ALBM
by MrMeasles
Summary: Ozpin grants four unlikely individuals a second chance at life. Without any exceptional talent, they must somehow overcome an academy for gifted warriors. Between the grimm, the bullies, the unhelpful staff, and their own infighting, it's easier said than done. A look into the darker sides of people and the mistakes they make on the long road to redemption.
1. Chapter 1 - Mistakes and Second Chances

Chapter 1. Of Mistakes and Second Chances.

The streets of Vale had a warm glow to it, despite the unusually dark clouds that seemed to bury the city. The hum in the air and the coppery taste it left gave signs of a coming storm. It had been some time since Vale had such weather. The warm glow seemed to be fading, if ever so gently and as the minutes ticked by it was clear it was far later than any respectable citizen should be out. It was starting to get late enough that one should be wary of other pedestrians.

Ashton Gray was no ordinary pedestrian. He was the heir to the Gray Dust Company. Once the top of the dust mining business, now a destitute company dying a long drawn out death. The company simply couldn't compete with the Shnee Dust Company and soon will be forced to file for bankruptcy. Since then the company had to make some deals with less reputable individuals in order to keep itself afloat. More often than not, these individuals need the help of Ashton. He knows his way around a sword, to put it simply.

This was one such night, where Ashton needed to employ his signature talents. Apparently their partners needed to deliver a package safely to a warehouse. An easy job compared to his usual tasks. Ashton was a little thankful, usually he has to smash up a shop or break a leg. The warehouse was near the docks. Security might be a problem but he was told that would be taken care of. The smell of dead fish was a clear sign he was nearing the harbor.

The harbor district wasn't a pretty sight, although the fact that the warehouse he was looking at seemed deserted, was. He carefully crept inside. He was told there would be three scratches on a pillar, that was where it needed to be placed. The inside of the warehouse was packed with old boxes, he couldn't make out any details though he could clearly see some sort of insignia or logo. He continued through the dark, claustrophobic pathways through the boxes until he found a pillar with three scratches on it, almost as if from a claw. He placed the package in the trash can below it. That job was painfully easy, there must be a catch.

A light was suddenly shining on him. He turned around to find several cops aiming their torches straight at him. He tossed the sand he kept in his pocket at them. They covered their eyes, giving him the opening to vault over them and break into a full sprint. The whole warehouse was now lighting up, the sound of airships outside indicated that the entire building was surrounded. A cop jumped out from behind a box, gun aimed. Ashton dived, kicking the cop square in the face.

The entrance was lit up, several spotlights aimed at the doorway. He glanced around the room, finding something unusual. The boxes all carried the Schnee family crest. This warehouse belonged to the Schnee dust company. He tried to get a good look despite the horrendous visibility, however there was a sudden crack sound and he found himself face down in the doorway.

His head collided with a police car. He felt shackles locking around his wrists. The cops were lifting him to his feet. He saw several men getting loaded into cop cars. Apparently his partners in crime were caught as well, at least he wasn't alone. Whatever was in the package was clearly important.

"Well, well, well!" Said a bearded detective. "Look who we have here, some sort of tough guy."

"Yeah!" The detective's partner interjected. He gave a weird half glare half raised eyebrow. "You think you're tough?"

"Not really." Ash replied. He squinted hard, his nose was bleeding.

"Oh, he's trying to be modest." The bearded detective said, his tone becoming warm and friendly. "Isn't that nice?"

"WRONG!" His partner shouted, slamming a baton against the cop car. "Clearly he's hiding something."

"Exactly." The bearded detective thrust his finger in Ashton's face. "We know exactly what you're up to pal, so 'fess up!"

"Why did you try to assassinate the president of the Vale Dust Society!" The partner shouted, practically face to face. Ashton winced.

"What?" Ash replied, he looked to the bearded detective, hoping for an answer. The fact that he could now see they were both wearing sunglasses, at night in a dimly lit street, gave him all the info he needed.

"Answer the man!" The detective shouted. Ash looked back and forth.

"I don't even know what the Vale Dust Society is, I've never heard of it." Ash replied. The detective scowled.

"Liar! We have all the evidence we need to convict you!" His partner shouted.

"Exactly, you're going away a long time for the charges of attempted murder and conspiracy." The detective said, stroking his beard.

"I didn't try to assassinate anyone, I was just delivering a package." Ashton said, the detectives glanced at each other. He closed his eyes, why did he say that.

"Aha!" The partner shouted. "So you were delivering a package!"

"There is no Vale Dust Society, we made it up. You just told us everything we need to know!" The detective shouted. Ash winced. Either he was dealing with idiots, or they were geniuses. There was always the option that he was an idiot himself.

"Tell me, what's in the package?" The partner said, suddenly pleasant.

"Yeah pal, what's in the box?" The detective asked, he was now standing so close their noses were inches away. He continued to stroke his beard.

"I don't know, never looked." Ash answered calmly. "I just left it in a trash can."

"Why would you break into a warehouse to throw out your garbage?" The detective asked. Their noses were pretty much touching at this point.

"Yeah, why are you robbing the garbage men of their jobs?" The partner asked. Ash wasn't sure how to even reply to these people. "Do you have something against them?"

"I was told to drop it in a specific garbage can, under a pillar, marked with three scratches." Ashton explained. The detectives glanced at each other.

"Well, well, well!" The detective said smugly, backing away slowly. "So we have ourselves a delivery boy!"

"And instead of pizza, he's bringing packaged drugs!" His partner shouted, he leaned right up to Ashton's face. "So what is it? Powder, Boom-Booms, Tallywackers, Snicksnackers, Apple Crackers, what are you running?"

"Are any of those actually things?" Ash asked. He winced, he really didn't need to know. "I don't know what's inside, I don't know if it is drugs."

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see." The detective said. He pointed to the warehouse. "Our officers will find this package and all this will become all too clear!"

He barely had time to finish his sentence, the warehouse exploded. The entire pier quaked and Ashton found himself slamming into the side of the car. Looking back at the old warehouse was a burning skeleton of it's former self. A smoldering wreck that seemed to almost crackle with electricity. A dust bomb, he was delivering a dust bomb. He was caught delivering a dust bomb. He muttered a few intricate curse words to himself. He wasn't getting out of this one. His heart sank into his stomach. The detectives were speechless.

-Six months later.

Bastion penitentiary, supposedly a rehabilitation center but most of the inmates aren't expecting that any time soon. The facility is designed to harbor prisoners of all kinds from the lightweight offenders along the lines of thievery and assault to the heavyweight champions of mass murder and terrorism. Ashton wasn't technically in either as his father was able to buy some leniency. Ashton found himself thrown in the delinquent youth section of the prison. The inmates here weren't exactly the lightweight sort but Ashton was the only terrorist in the room so he had a bit of a reputation.

His father had tried to get him out as best he could, Ashton knew this, but it seems like it would take a miracle for him to walk. He was told a few cops died in the explosion. That alone ensured his continued incarceration. Apparently his father received quite the windfall from that little job, the company is still afloat. News of the heir to the Gray mining company also didn't seem to break the headlines. It seems nobody knew he was even in here.

He saw somebody approaching him from across the mess room. Big and ugly. It was Bruno, the so called king of this little concrete paradise. He didn't like Ashton and seemed to make it his job to bother him. Bruno was in here for assault and extortion. Apparently he was brilliant enough to realize that he could get money from store clerks in exchange for not smashing everything in sight. Clever guy, that's why he's in jail.

"So the terrorist is still here, daddy didn't get you out yet?" He asked, he imitated a crying baby which gained a couple of guffaws from some of the other inmates.

"No, I'm stuck here with you a little longer. Daddy's a little busy at your mother's house!" Ashton exclaimed, jumping to his feet. The fist barely missed his face.

Bruno wasn't exactly a great fighter, he was strong but he was way too slow. He swung his arms like an drunken gorilla. He stumbled around like a bull on roller skates as he did. Dodging him was fairly easy for Ashton. He slammed Bruno in the ears, jumping up to knee him in the face. Bruno stagger back, falling into the arms of several prison guards. A baton was wrapped around Ashton's neck and he found himself face down into the table. The guards began to drag him out the door, Bruno was shouting some death threats but Ashton didn't really care enough to listen.

"Listen guys, your batons are nice and shiny but I don't swing that way!" Ash shouted as the guards dragged him off down a hallway.

"Alright smart ass, you have been requested by an important guest." The security guard said with a sharp jab of his baton. "You need to be on your best behavior or you won't be eating for the next week."

"Relax, I know how to behave myself." Ashton replied, he could tell the guard wasn't buying it.

"Right, if you could behave yourself you wouldn't be blowing up buildings." The guard replied. He had a fair point, even if it wasn't intentional.

He was shoved into formation with two dozen inmates roughly his age. Judging from the looks on their faces, none of them had a clue what they were doing there. The doors across the room finally opened and a man entered the room. The man had messy gray hair, wore a green suit and had round sunglasses. He seemed familiar but he couldn't quite place him. The man had a cup of coffee with him. He studied the inmates carefully. His brown eyes darted back and forth along the ranks.

"These are the ones?" He asked, the warden's face grew pale.

"Yes, these are the ones. Some of these kids are some of the best fighters in the entire facility." He said proudly. The man simply shrugged.

"Alright, I want..." He said quietly. He pointed at seven of the students and motioned them to step forward. He paused for a moment and his eyes lingered on Ashton. A shiver went down his spine as he did. "Him."

"Gray? Are you sure, he might be a little dangerous for what you have in mind." The warden blurted out. His sweat was obvious.

"I'm not deciding on anything yet, I'd like a chance to talk to each of these choices. I'm not quite done making my decisions yet." The man said calmly and politely. He put a hand on the warden's shoulder and color seemed to return to his face.

"Yes sir!" The warden shouted, motioning for the guards to take the remaining students away. "The rest of you will wait until you are called."

The man in the green suit was led through a side door. One by one students were brought into it. Ashton found himself waiting nervously. Of all the inmates who entered that room, only four emerged. Finally it was down to him. The guards led him to the room revealing an interrogation room. There was a back door as well as a mirrored window. In the center of the room was a cold metallic table, the man in the green suit was sitting pensively. Ashton slid into the opposite seat and the guards stepped out of the room.

"Ashton Gray, you are an unusual person to find in such a miserable place." The man said with a reassuring smile. "I admit I hadn't expected to see you there, news of your arrest never reached my ears."

"Well, I assume that the heir to the Gray Dust Company being arrested would cause my father some problems." He said with a shrug. The man in the suit simply adjusted his sunglasses and gave a nod.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked with a smile.

"Not really, you seem familiar." Ashton said, scratching his head. "Did you know my father."

"Yes, I have actually have met your father on several occasions. I've only met you once however, years ago." The man said softly. "My name is Ozpin. I run Beacon Academy."

"I see, so what brings the headmaster of Beacon Academy to my humble abode?" Ashton laughed nervously. Ozpin gave him a careful stare.

"How long have you been here?" Ozpin asked, changing the subject. It was rather direct compared to how soft his voice has otherwise been.

"Six months and counting. My sentence hasn't had an arranged date." Ashton said with a shrug. "What's the average sentence for terrorism these days?"

"Did you do it?" He asked. He didn't seem to blink.

"Yes, sort of. I just delivered the package, didn't realize what was in it." Ashton shrugged. He tried to match Ozpin's gaze but he couldn't help but blink.

"Would you say you regret this action?" Ozpin asked. He leaned back.

"Not really." Ashton said slumping backwards.

"That is an interesting answer." Ozpin said tilting his head slightly. "Why not?"

"I deliver a package, my family is no longer broke. I end up in jail for an unspecified amount of time but the family name lives on for another day." Ashton said with a limp nod.

"You don't care about your own fate?" He asked inquisitively. He leaned forward, the light made a sort of shadow across his face.

"My family is dying, everything we have ever worked for is disappearing. I feel obligated to do what I can." Ashton said with a weak smile. "I'm a casualty in my family's war. I would just end up that way no matter what."

"What if I offered you an alternative?" He asked. He leaned back into the light.

"What sort of alternative are we talking?" Ashton asked nervously. There was something grim about this.

"How would you feel about enrolling in Beacon Academy?" Ozpin asked, unnervingly coldly given how polite he's been so far.

"I don't think I'm allowed out." Ashton responded. He was quickly interrupted.

"If I say you are coming with me, the warden will listen. What I am offering you is a way out, not one that comes lightly." He said sternly. "I am not offering you a free ride here. This will be tough, this will be bloody, if you fail to prove yourself then you will be dropped from my school. Understood?"

"Yes, uh sir?" Ashton mumbled. Ozpin took another sip of his coffee.

"So what is your decision?" Ozpin asked grimly, as if the fate of the world rested on this very question.

"I accept." Ashton replied. He straightened his back. "I feel I overstayed my welcome here anyway."

"Excellent." Ozpin said, a smile returning to his face. "Head through that door, I need to have a word with the warden."

Ashton nervously opened the door and found himself entering a room with three other inmates. There was a giant of a man with a young boyish face and short brown hair. He had a scar across his head. His eyes looked a little off. There was a small and mousy looking girl in the corner, with a patchy brown rag covering her head. Last was a girl with dark hair and a pale complexion. The angry look on her face discouraged social interaction. They sat quietly in the room giving each other cautious glances until Ozpin finally entered the room.

"You have all officially been accepted into Beacon Academy, congratulations on your rehabilitation." Ozpin said with a smile. He led the group out a door leading outside. A limousine was waiting for them.

They packed into the limo, the mousey girl had a wide eyed look, as if she's never been inside a car before. The big guy kept poking the window, mesmerized. The dark hair girl leaned back. The orange jumpsuits of everyone in the room contrasted the luxurious leathers. Ozpin was eying them carefully, gauging their reactions.

"So have you all introduced yourselves?" Ozpin asked politely. The unanimous shrugs from everyone else in the limo gave him his answer. "Right, of course. Well then, I suppose this all is a bit sudden. You will likely socialize on the flight tomorrow. Your belongings will of course be returned to you shortly."

The limo pulled out from the prison, stopping off near the front entrance where the boxes containing the groups belongings were placed in the trunk. The limo eventually dropped everyone off at a hotel, they each were given separate rooms. Ashton collapsed on his soft bed and led out an unwanted groan. He didn't exactly get a comfortable bed for the last six months. His mattress had felt like it was made out of a box spring. It didn't take long before he drifted into a deep sleep.

Ashton awoke to pounding on his door. The sun was shining on his face and he eventually pulled himself to his feet. He pulled himself out of bed and staggered to his box of things. Inside it were his his clothes. A couple pairs of dark jeans, several white dress shirts and a black vest, complete with his usual silver jacket with his family crest. Opening his door he could see the rest of the inmates were already up. The mousy girl wore a patchy cloak that could have been made out of rags, she wrapped herself up in it so tight she might have formed a coccoon. The big guy was dressed in blue overalls with a yellow hoodie. The dark hair girl wore a lacy black dress and wore dark makeup. All of them were yawning audibly, Ozpin still was drinking from his coffee cup.

"You finally join us." Ozpin said with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"I was convinced I was sleeping in an old iron maiden for the last six months so I guess I forgot what a real bed felt like." Ashton replied. "When are we leaving?"

"Immediately, the airship leaves in an hour." Ozpin replied. "Shall we."

Sorry Bruno, Ash thought with a smile. It looks like he's not going to get the chance to carry out those death threats. The sun was shining and he was a free man. Who'd a thought? Today was a good day.


	2. Chapter 2 - A Bright and Shining Beacon

Chapter 2. A Bright and Shining Beacon

The airship was packed with students, before he could board however he found himself being stopped by a man in a dark hood. He swore he'd seen him before. The man had an unnerving smile.

"I have a delivery for you kid, your father sends his regards." The man said thrusting a case into Ashton's arms. The man slunk off before Ozpin could turn around, when Ashton looked back he found an empty terminal.

"Hurry up Mr. Gray, the airship is leaving." Ozpin called, Ashton nodded and hurried aboard.

The airship took off shortly, Ashton was sitting next to the other inmates. From the crowd he could see a very diverse assortment of characters, from humans to faunus from citizens of Vale to citizens of Mistral. He turned to the other inmates, he figured he might as well try to introduce himself.

"Hey." He said to the woman in the dark dress, she gave him a glare.

"No." She said, she stood up and found another seat.

"Alrighty, nice to meet you." He said with shrug. He heard a giggle behind him, he turned around and saw the mousy girl giggling under her hood.

"What's so funny?" Ashton asked, eyebrow raised.

"You strike out there handsome?" She asked with a toothy grin.

"Wasn't intending anything, I think she may have misunderstood." Ashton said with a shrug. "I'm Ashton Gray by the way."

"Lyra Tawny." She replied timidly. "Nice to meet you."

"Well you seem to be fairly polite for a felon. What were you in for?" Ashton asked.

"Stealing." She mumbled nervously.

"That's not too bad, why'd they send you to Bastion, couldn't your parents pay the fine?" Ashton asked, he saw the look on her face and winced. He said too much.

"I don't really have any." She mumbled. She started burying her face under her hood.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry." Ashton started rambling. "I mean I didn't know and I wasn't trying to... sorry."

"No problem." She murmured. "I didn't really even get a trial, they sort of just through me into Bastion as soon as I was caught."

"How come?" Ashton asked. There was a moment of silence, she timidly lowered her hood back.

Under her hood she had short beige hair, but more importantly she had two mouse ears. She was a Faunus, Ashton quickly figured out the rest of her story. The cops figured a faunus orphan would have no prospects in life but to grow up a criminal and it would likely be better just to lock her away now before she inevitably joined the White Fang. Happens more often than you'd think.

"Little mouse." Said the big guy in a deep voice, she gave out a squeak and covered herself in her hood again. The big guy laughed slightly.

"What's your name big guy?" Ashton asked, the guy turned his head to him, his eyes seemed off. He just noticed they were different colors, the left was blue, the right was green.

"I'm Billy." He said with a big smile. "Billy Boyd."

"Nice to meet you Billy, you're a rather friendly fellow." Ashton said with a nervous smile.

"Momma said to be nice to strangers, you never know when they could be your friend." Billy said with a loud guffaw.

"Charming." Ashton said nervously. "So any of you get that girls name?"

"I tried to talk to her." Lyra muttered. "All I got was no, not ever, get out of my face."

"Yikes." Ashton replied.

"I said hello." Billy said with a smile. "She asked me if I was stupid. She was a mean lady."

"Sorry to hear that big guy." Ashton said with a shrug. "She's not a people person that's for sure."

"So Beacon is a fighting academy." Lyra said softly. "I don't suppose any of you know how to fight?"

"I know how to fight, I don't really have a weapon though." Ashton said with a shrug.

"I don't really either, I'm also not that much of a fighter." She said with a shrug. He had to admit, he felt pretty bad for her at that point, she was at a considerable disadvantage there.

"Police man officers locked me up for fighting. Mamma always said fighting was bad." Billy said with an overenthusiastic nod. He pulled out great broadsword. "I got my grandpappa's sword from the war."

Ash couldn't help but wonder how long these two would last at this school. He may not know much about Beacon but he knows that they are pretty strict on their students and not everyone makes it out in one piece. Sometimes literally.

"What's that case your holding?" Lyra asked.

"Oh that, that's a..." Ashton began, he looked at the old case. "I don't know..."

"Well, open it!" Lyra squeaked excitedly.

Ashton opened the case. He took a moment to gasp slightly. It was an elegant sword with a revolver built into it. The blade could be adjusted and even folded back so the wielder would have greater dexterity in using the revolver. It was his father's weapon, Silver Faust. He pulled it out of the box and got a feel for it, it was perfectly balanced. He twirled it around in his hands. He could see the absolute awe in the others eyes.

"Well, I guess that's something." Ashton quietly said with a shrug.

"Whoa, that looks like it was expensive." Lyra gasped.

"It's an heirloom, I never thought I'd ever get to hold it." Ashton said, he felt a bit proud just holding it. His father told him he'd give it to him when he considered him a man. He turned his gaze to the television screen, the news was talking about some dust thief.

The news was interrupted by a tall blonde woman, she had a purple cape and a pair of thin rectangular glasses. The students seemed to be turning towards her, clearly she was somebody important around here. Ashton focused on the mystery woman.

"Hello and welcome to beacon." She said clearly before introducing herself. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch, you are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace and as future huntsmen and huntresses it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

Just like that Glynda vanished, the holographic display vanished. Students were gasping excitedly and several were running to the windows to get a view. Ashton turned his head, as did Lyra and Billy. The view was spectacular as the castle that was Beacon Academy came into view.

"Whoa!" Lyra exclaimed excitedly. "I've never seen anything like that in my life!"

"Why is it so tiny?" Billy asked, both Lyra and Ashton simply stared at him. "Oh god it's getting bigger! No wait it's just getting closer. My bad."

"I, I don't know how to react to that." Ashton replied.

A student with blonde hair sprinted by making horrific noises, the rest of the students all shifted out of his way uncomfortably. Somebody didn't appreciate the view. There was a horrible retching sound and the student puked next to a couple of girls who immediately started protested, at this point the entire airship seemed to enter a state of panic.

The airship reached the landing platform and students were stampeding off in a panic. Vomit boy found himself a nice trash can to empty his stomach into. Ashton was about to enter the main plaza when a hand was outstretched in front of his face. Glynda Goodwitch, the woman who gave the speech was standing in front of him, he figured this one was real.

"You are one of the Bastion kids?" She asked, shifting through a notebook.

"Ashton Gray at your service." Ashton replied, maybe it was the hint of sarcasm in his voice but it was now clear she didn't like him. Either from the death glare he was now victim to or the fact her body went rigid.

"Let me set this straight." She said sternly. "Ozpin is vouching for the four of you, he does this every four years. I do not appreciate this concept, I have yet to see a student from Bastion not end up either expelled from this Academy or falling back into their old habits."

"I'm not exactly like other students from Bastion." Ashton tried to interject, he was met with a scowl.

"I don't care." She replied. "You and the others like you are nothing but trouble. If it were up to me you would find yourself on that airship on a return trip straight to Bastion."

"I'm glad it isn't up to you." Ashton replied, the smug look on his face really set her off. She readjusted her glasses, swung herself around and stormed off.

"What was her problem?" A cold voice asked. He turned around and found the dark haired girl was right next to him. He jumped slightly. "What?"

"Don't sneak up on people like that." Ashton replied. She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, Ms Goodwitch over there was basically just telling me that she hates me."

"I can't imagine why." She replied, the sarcasm in her voice was practically venomous.

"Hey, she also said she hates you too." Ashton spat back. She gave an odd smirk and turned towards the school.

There was a loud explosion, up ahead two girls were standing in the middle of a crater, one of them was now screaming at the other. It was a rather uncomfortable scene. Ashton decided to try to introduce himself to the dark haired girl.

"Hey, I'm Ashton by the way, Ashton Gray." Ashton said with his hand outstretched.

"Ashton Gray?" She asked slightly tilting her head. "Of the Gray Dust Company?"

"That's the one." Ashton said proudly, she rolled her eyes. There was a brief moment before she looked back at him. She outstretched her hand and shook his.

"Charmed." She replied curtly.

"And what shall I call you?" Ashton asked.

"Whatever you want." She replied. She started walking towards the school leaving Ashton questioning what the hell she meant by that.

"Whatever you want?" He whispered to himself. He shrugged and headed towards the school. This day was looking a little strange.

The main hall was crowded with students, he had no idea where to walk until he heard a distant squeak. Following it to it's source he found Lyra buried under her cloak. A group of jerks were harassing her.

"Hey gutter rat! This is a fighting academy, not a shelter. Find yourself a drainage pipe to sleep in." The man in charge of this motley crew of pricks said as he jabbed her in the shoulder. His friends chuckled as if this was the funniest thing they've ever seen.

"That's not a nice thing to say to a lady." Ashton said with a broad smile. The group turned to him.

"Oh really, what are you going to do about it?" The leader asked, he walked right up to Ashton's face. "You going to stand up to this thing? It's not even human what's it to you?"

"I really don't think you should go down this road." Ashton said with a bigger grin. He had been in this situation numerous times back in Bastion. "Let me guess, you just got out of Signal?"

"Damn right, Cardin Winchester. I was one of the best fighters." He said with a noxious degree of gloating. The guffaws from his fellow students was like listening to someone scratch a blackboard.

"Right, I just got out of Bastion." Ashton said with a half shrug. "I met plenty of rent-a-thugs in there who graduated from Signal, some where good fighters too. Hell most cops have graduated from Signal as well. I never had too much trouble with either. So I want you to ask yourself, do you think this fight is worth having?"

"Mister tough guy from prison!" Cardin exclaimed, he was starting to draw attention his way. Ash had to admit, he really laid the tough guy act a little thick. "You really think you can take me in a fight?"

"Actually I can take all four of you." Ashton said with a sly grin. Cardin seemed to pause for a moment, he regained his composure.

"Really, what makes you say that?" Cardin asked. "What makes you think you can fight four well trained fighters all by your lonesome?"

"Well I could go into depth about that, but I don't think I need to." Ashton said with a shrug. "I'm not going into this fight alone."

"The mouse is going to fight?" Cardin asked with a hearty laugh, his friends continued the cringe worthy guffaws.

"Damn right I am." Lyra said fearsomely, well it came out squeakier than she wanted.

"Actually I was referring to the big guy behind you who doesn't take kindly to your attitude." Ashton said with a derisive laugh, the look on their faces as they turned around was worth it. They found themselves staring at Billy's stomach.

"I don't take kindly to you being mean to the little lady." He said politely. "That's plenty rude. You should apologize"

"You will regret this." Said Cardin backing up, he and his group headed off through the crowd.

"Thanks." Lyra squeaked, she kept her hood on, tightly pulling on it's sides. Billy scratched his head.

"Thanks Billy, you're a good person to stand up for her like that." Ashton said to him, Billy simply smiled his enthusiastic smile.

"You stood up for her too." He said back happily. "You're a good person too."

"No, I admit I did that for mostly selfish reasons." Ashton replied. "You see, I learned that when you're in a new environment, you need to assert yourself fast. It's all about who's on top of the food chain. I figured to look at the most unified and aggressive group of students, the ones who want to put themselves above the others and then take them down a peg."

"So all that was just because you want to be alpha dog?" Lyra asked.

"Don't take it too hard mouse, when I reach that status I'll make sure you get a few perks heading your way." Ashton replied with a shrug, Lyra scowled from under her hood.

"You're kind of a jerk." Lyra squeaked.

"So I've been told." Ashton said with a smile, he slapped Billy's arm playfully and found his place. Ozpin was on a stage holding a cup of coffee. The feedback from his microphone gathered everyone's attention.

"I'll keep this brief." He said calmly pushing his sunglasses up his nose. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, hone your craft and acquire new skills and when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people, yet when I look amongst you all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, however your time at this school will prove to only carry you so far."

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Glynda said as Ozpin quietly exited the stage.

The room cleared into the ballroom, plenty of makeshift beds were set up all across the floor. The room was divided with girls on one side and guys on the other. Ashton found a nice corner and leaned comfortably against the wall. He drew Silver Faust and examined his reflection in the blade. His silver hair was in a rather messy mane. He put the weapon back in it's case and carefully removed his jacket. He didn't exactly have any pajamas and had only a few changes of clothes at the moment. He'd have to head to Vale as soon as he could to go shopping.

"Hey Ashton!" Billy said with a big toothy smile. He was wearing long johns covered in ducks. He was like a seven foot tall child. He had that innocent charm to him. Ashton sort of missed when he could say the same about himself.

"Hey Billy, you looking for a place to sleep?" Ashton asked, Billy nodded enthusiastically. "Alright, you can sleep here too."

"I miss my home." Billy said scratching his head. "I haven't seen it in a while."

"How long were you in Bastion?" Ashton asked. Billy hesitated in his answer.

"Three months." Billy said quietly. "They kept me in iso-iso-isola..."

"Isolation." Ashton finished for him. He felt bad for the guy, he went in isolation for a week and felt like clawing his own eyes out. "How come?"

"A bully was being mean, I punched him in the face. He didn't get back up." Billy said timidly. "I didn't mean to hurt him so badly, he kept slapping me. I didn't like that."

"That sucks." Ashton said. He genuinely felt bad for the guy, he didn't deserve to end up in Bastion. "Well, you happy to be in Beacon?"

"Mamma used to read me stories about huntsmen and huntresses, fighting grimm and saving people." Billy said with a big toothy grin. "I'm going to be just like the huntsmen in my stories!"

"So you're in this to be a hero?" Ashton asked. It was an ambitious goal, especially for someone with his background.

"You could be a hero too!" Billy said with his usual grin. "You'd be a great hero!"

"I'd be a terrible hero." Ashton said with shrug. His mind flashed to that warehouse. "That ship sailed a long time ago."

"How come?" Billy asked. He was a bit naive, but he had a good heart. Ashton smiled limply.

"Another time." Ashton said scanning the ballroom. He could see a small pile of rags in a corner across the room. A good distance away was the mystery dark haired girl, she slept in clothes just as expensive looking as her usual dress.

"Well I think I need to have my sleep." Billy said, he curled into an enormously big ball and shut his eyes.

Across the room Ashton could see a fight break out in the girls side followed by a heated argument, he figured that was his cue to sleep. He slumped back against the wall and shut his eyes. It took a moment but he felt himself drifting asleep.


	3. Chapter 3 - Morning After Sickness

Chapter 3. Morning After Sickness.

Morning had come pretty swiftly and Ashton found his way to the cafeteria. The room was crowded, students were practically shoulder to shoulder. Rumors were abuzz of teams, that students will be put in groups of four for the remainder of their time in Beacon. On top of that there was the upcoming test, none of the older students were offering to give any clues as to what that could be.

"So what do you think the test will be?" Billy asked, his overalls were stained with maple syrup and he was desperately trying to clean it with napkins. "I'm not very good at history or math."

"It's obviously going to be a combat test, probably have to fight each other or something." Ashton replied with a bored half shrug. He admitted the food was better than Bastion provided but for some reason he just didn't feel like eating. There was a tiny squeak behind him.

"Combat test?" Lyra asked. The look of terror on her face told him everything he already figured. She didn't know a thing about fighting. "Like, against people?"

"No against grimm." Ashton replied with a roll of his eyes, he noticed how wide her eyes were. "Of course with people!"

"I don't like hurting people." Billy said lowering his head. "I swore I wouldn't ever do it again."

"You guys will be fine I'm sure, it's obviously not going to be to the death." Ashton said twirling his pancakes around. "What kind of academy would let it's students die after all, especially a prestigious academy like this one."

"Oh no." Lyra winced. "Cardin is coming."

Sure enough, Cardin and his gang were heading straight towards them. Judging from the looks on their faces, Ashton could figure they were coming to throw some competitive tough talk to try to intimidate him. After the standoff the day before it would make sense that Cardin would feel he needed to reassert his imagined sense of superiority and power over the other students.

"You, Gray!" Cardin shouted. Ashton spun himself around on his chair. Cardin was right behind him.

"You and your friends better hope we don't find them during the test today." Cardin said with a smug grin, his lackeys gave their classic guffaws. "Wouldn't want any of you getting hurt."

"Honestly I couldn't care about them." Ashton shrugged, Lyra shook her head disgusted, Billy kept nodding happily. "I only stopped you the other day because you seemed like a bit of a prick."

"You will eat your words." Cardin said with a dramatic thrust of his finger. He moved it across his throat.

"Looking forward to it." Ashton said with a lazy smile, he spun himself back towards his pancakes. Cardin put his hand on Lyra's head causing her to squeak, he brushed Ashton's hair as he passed by. What a prick, Ashton thought as he continued twirling his pancakes.

"You really don't care about anything?" Lyra asked.

"That's not true, I care about myself." Ashton replied with a sly grin. She frowned and stood up. She looked like she was going to reply but she simply shook her head and stomped off.

"It's these little talks we have that I treasure." Ashton said with a roll of his eyes. Across from him Billy was still nodding with his big happy grin.

"I like our talks too." Billy said with a big toothy grin.

"You going to eat that?" The girl beside him asked, hungrily staring at his pancakes.

"Nora!" Her friend shouted from across the room, she let out a long dramatic sigh.

"Right! As I was saying..." She said skipping off into the crowd. Ashton shrugged.

The change room was packed with students, bickering about their various plans for dealing with the mystery test and who's going to be on who's team. Students had all changed into their combat attire, if you can call the impractical things the students are wearing combat attire. Then again, Ashton looked like he was dressed for corporate meeting, which seemed a little too formal for such an occasion. A girl bumped into him as he was looking through his locker.

"Watch where you're going!" The girl shouted.

"Going? I was standing here, you walked into me!" Ashton shouted back. The girl was in all white, even her hair. She had a thin scar across her left eye. She had an air of sophistication and gave him the vibe she was going to be an uptight and obnoxious strain on his patience.

"Oh so now it's my fault?" She asked. Ashton took a moment to think about how stupid that question was.

"Yes!" Ashton replied, she looked as if he accused her of war crimes.

"How dare you!" She shouted. "I was walking and you bumped into me, if you weren't such a dolt you'd apologize right this second."

"That depends, are you planning on shutting the hell up anytime soon?" Ashton asked, she thrust a finger in his face, second time in a day, he was beginning to think he just had that affect on people.

"How dare you talk to me that way!" She screamed. She stamped her feet and locked her arms tight together.

"Fine, for the sake of my sanity I'll do it." Ashton exclaimed. He let out an exasperated sigh. He held out his hand. "I apologize for telling you to shut up and for being in your way, your highness."

"Much better." She said shaking his hand firmly. "At least someone has a sense of civility, even if only so much."

"Charmed." Ashton half groaned. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Ashton, Ashton Gray."

"Weiss Schnee." She replied with a slight curtsy. Ashton's blood ran cold. Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the dust company that ruined his family name, destroyed the Gray Dust Company and left them destitute and in debt to degenerates and terrorists. He couldn't even name what he was feeling, it wasn't quite anger or rage, it was more malice and contempt. "I'd say it's a pleasure but I don't particularly like you."

"Pleasure is all mine." Ashton muttered. His heart was pounding and he could feel his grip tightening, she seemed to notice and pulled away quickly.

"Now if you will excuse me, I have important things to do." She stormed off. She walked as if she owned every tile she stepped on. He punched his locker in frustration.

"What a nag." The voice was familiar, he turned back around to see his dark haired mystery girl. "You don't have a thing for that harpy do you?"

"No, her and her father nearly destroyed my entire family. She's got her head so far up her..." Ashton smacked his locker. He was still fuming.

"She didn't even recognize you?" She asked with a tilt of her head. "That's got to hurt."

"You have no idea, everything I am and everything I've had to do was because of her family. She's none the wiser." Ashton took a deep breath he released his fists and leaned against his locker.

"Well, those that cause harm to others rarely remember it. Those who were harmed will never forget it." She said with shrug. She swung a locker near him open and grabbed a knife. It had a long wooden handle, intricately carved with a few crystals running along it. The blade was a deep black, the wood was almost as dark. She twirled it around and sheathed it, in her sleeve of all places.

"That your weapon?" Ashton asked, she stowed it quickly in a pocket. There was something to that reaction, he wasn't entirely sure how much he cared.

"Sure, what's it to you?" She asked. He gave a shrug.

"Looks pretty close range, you know how to use it?" Ashton asked, she gave him a stern look.

"Of course I know how to use it, do you know how to use yours?" She asked. He wasn't entire sure why she was so angry.

"Of course." He said with a smile. She rolled her eyes. "So why would it have mattered if I had a thing for Weiss?"

"What?" She asked, she was a little flustered.

"It was like the first thing you asked me, you asked if I had a thing for that harpy. Why does it matter?" He couldn't help but grin.

"You're eyes were lingering on her, I figured you had a thing for her and you struck out badly." She answered. He didn't think her answer added up. "To answer your question it really doesn't matter."

"Yet you seemed worried, you got flustered when I asked and now you are very defensive." A smug smile grew across his face. There was a deafening smack and he found his head crashing into his locker. She full on backhanded him.

"I don't like your implications." She said storming off. He rolled over on the ground.

"Implications?" He muttered. He stared up at the ceiling light for a moment, his vision was getting sort of blurry. Then it was wet, very very wet. He started coughing up water, he rolled over and coughed hoarsely. His vision was coming back and he was completely soaked. He looked up and saw a pair of boots in front of his face.

"Well look who we have here." Cardin said leaning down. "The tough guy isn't looking too good now is he? Not so tough now."

"Well let's be honest at least." Ashton groaned. "From down here you still look like a prick."

There was a swift kick to the side of his head and he found his vision blurring off, his head screaming and suddenly numbness. The locker room felt like a millennium ago. The frigid cold felt like icicles gnawing on his exposed skin. There were shadows lingering over him and he could faintly hear the cries of battle. There was something nostalgic about it, in an unsettling sort of way. He felt a smack to his face and was pulled back to reality.

"You okay?" Billy asked looking down at him sheepishly.

"Yeah Billy, just contemplating the best way to skin Cardin. I'm think he should be alive for the show." Ashton said with a loud groan. His head was still pounding. Billy grabbed his shoulders and lifted him effortlessly to his feet, Ashton staggered backwards into his locker and shook his head violently.

"Better?" Billy asked. He actually looked worried.

"Yeah Billy, better." Ashton said rubbing his head. "You didn't have to help me there."

"But you're my friend, friends help each other." Billy said with a wide toothy smile. Ashton didn't entirely know how to respond to that. They only just met yesterday. He didn't know how many friends Billy had though, judging by how he said it.

"I don't think you want me as your friend Billy." Ashton replied, pulling himself from his locker and grabbing his things.

"Why not?" Billy asked, he really was looking like a lost puppy.

"Because, you're a far better person than me." Ashton said. He started walking and Billy started following.

"You seem like a good enough person to me!" Billy said enthusiastically. Ashton really didn't know how to respond to that, he decided not to.

They were lead to a cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. It wasn't too far from the school but was definitely far beyond the city limits. They were all standing on intricately carved stone platforms, in a row before the edge. Glynda gave him a good scowl as she passed him, inspecting each student one by one. Ozpin finally showed up with, big surprise, a cup of coffee. He gazed at each of them from beyond his his glasses. He didn't even glance his way, instead focusing entirely on the other end of the formation.

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the emerald forest." Ozpin stated. Lyra squeaked.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today." said Glynda. Several students gave each other some hurried glances.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin continued. "That being said. The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

The students started shifting around. Ashton was starting to wonder what kind of test this is. What did Ozpin mean by landing. Ashton's head was still throbbing and this wasn't exactly helping.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." Ozpin continued. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene."

What kind of school is this? Ashton found himself nervous for the first time since that warehouse in the harbor. Plenty of opposition, no intervention. That forest could be full of grimm and he's sending uninitiated students alone?

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing and grade you appropriately." He finished. The students continued to give nervous glances back and forth. "Are there any questions?"

"Yeah um sir." A student said from the far end of the line.

"Good!" Ozpin replied. "Now, take your positions."

"Uh sir." The student continued. Ashton couldn't hear him continue to sputter questions as the platform he was standing on suddenly catapulted him into the air. After landing, of course. Now it made sense. This school sucks.


	4. Chapter 4 - Teaming Up

Chapter 4. Teaming up.

Things come into perspective when you are hurdling towards certain death. Things like, maybe prison isn't that bad. Or maybe it's the thought that one should carry a parachute on them at all times, just in case they find themselves hurdling towards certain death. Maybe a grappling hook at the very least. Ashton drew Silver Faust and aimed it, at what? He had no idea. Then it dawned on him.

Silver Faust fired pretty high caliber rounds, enough that they cause a considerable blast. Conventionally this doesn't help him, however it also fires special dust rounds, using burn dust, it's blast is akin to a rocket, the kickback is ridiculous. Part of the reason his father never let him use it. He fumbled through his pocket and drew several of the special rounds and loaded them into his revolver. The conventional rounds flew over his shoulder, he spun the cylinder back in place and opened fire.

He slowed down considerably but found himself spinning vertically. He fired again, same result. Now he had to time it right. He fired three more times, a tree branch was getting closer, he fired again, Silver Faust transformed into a long blade and he stabbed it into the side of the tree. He slammed face first into it and slowly his blade carved a long gouge down the side of the tree. He collapsed in a heap at the bottom.

"I hate this school." He muttered to nobody in particular.

He leaned against the tree, holstering Silver Faust and pondering his situation. He was in the forest with no supplies, whatever ammo he can stick in his jacket pockets and two dozen students. The first student he makes eye contact with is now his partner for four years, that might cause problems. What if he ends up with Cardin, or worse, Weiss. Who knows what would happen if he was condemned to either of those hells. It could actually be worse, it could be one of Cardin's goons. Nothing like not knowing if your partner will sell you out to someone he likes better, all while making those off key laughs.

There was always mystery girl, she had a way of showing up. Ashton had the feeling she liked him, at the same time she's a bit abusive, physically or otherwise. He can thank her for the whole Cardin incident earlier. There's always Lyra, a little self righteous for a thief. She would probably talk his ear off about how she thinks he's a jerk. There's always Billy. He's, uh, loyal? Yeah he's loyal, and friendly too. There was always the girl that wanted his pancakes, Nora or whatever. Or vomit boy. Or crater face.

"Hell. If I'm actually considering Vomit Boy or Crater Face then I'm screwed." He said with a smack to his head. "Who am I even talking to?"

He stood up and dusted himself off, he had an entire forest to navigate. It was probably filled with grimm, he's never seen a grimm before but he's been told they are the most horrible things imaginable. He frequently asks himself why he accepted Ozpin's deal, it seems so stupid. Regardless, he now needed to find a relic, whatever it may be. What if he made it to the relic and never encountered another student, maybe he can just do this alone.

Distant gunfire and shouts echoed across the forest, other students were already in combat. He had problems of his own, before him was a great bramble forest. No visibility, barely any maneuverability. It would be the perfect place to hide, so long as nothing is living in it. He raised Silver Faust and carefully stepped through the brambles, he could feel thorns piercing his pants. His leg snagged on a vine and he flipped face first into a muddy puddle. He pulled himself up and tried to wipe the mud off his coat. This is what he get's for dressing formal for a walk in the woods. He was about to continue navigating the bush when he heard voices coming from nearby. He could barely make out the shouting, it sounded like a group was passing by.

"How much further Cardin?" A voice said. Ashton lowered himself and tried to peak through the bush.

"Not much further, be on your guard though, I thought I saw Gray land in this area." Cardin said with a laugh. "It might be fun if we run into him or one of those friends of his."

"I think I saw one of them go down in this area, we might be in luck." One of the voices said, they started chuckling.

Easy there, Ashton thought to himself. Keep quiet and they'll pass. He waited a moment for them to move a good distance away and continued to creep through the bush. It seemed to go on for an enormous amount of time. He was just about at the end when he heard screaming. He ducked down and listened carefully, it was coming further back from where he just came from. He turned back where he was going, he could faintly make out what looked like ruins up ahead. He could keep going and make it to the relic. He hung his head.

"Why am I doing this." Ashton muttered to himself, he turned around and carefully crept back.

The culprit behind the scream and it's reason were a bit of a ways back, he found a familiar girl in a ragged dress backing away from Cardin and his group of thugs. She was waving around a pocket knife, tiny compared to the sizable weapons of Cardin's group. Ashton looked over his shoulder one last time, this accomplished nothing but the opportunity to get back at Cardin for earlier seemed palpable. He dived out of the bushes, drawing Silver Faust.

"Look who it is, how was the nap Gray?" Cardin asked, he raised his great mace.

"It was alright, figured I'll return the favor." Ashton replied, he fired Silver Faust. He had it loaded with a dust round.

The blast was surprisingly staggering, he stumbled back and watched as Cardin's group had flung backwards, Cardin ran at him mace drawn. Ashton transformed Silver Faust back into a blade a met him halfway. He swung the blade down low, Cardin intercepted it with his mace. A foot flew right past Ashton's head forcing him to roll. The mace came down again, Ashton rolled and swung upwards. The blade missed Cardin barely and a fist collided with Ashton's jaw. He staggered backwards and Cardin hit him square in the chest with an unexpected jump kick. Ashton rolled when he hit the ground and lunged, blade swinging down, Cardin caught it with his mace.

"Really now?" Cardin asked with a smug look on his face. "I thought you could take all four of us, you can barely take one."

"Well I thought I'd give you the gift of a straight fight, only way you have a chance of winning." Ashton retorted, he saw a sly grin flash across Cardin's face.

"Let me offer you a reward for your generosity." Cardin said headbutting him square in the nose. Ashton staggered back flinging pocket sand straight into Cardin's eyes. Cardin shouted and backed up. "You little..."

There was a loud roar, Ashton winced, turning his head to face the one interrupting their scuffle. Ashton had never seen a grimm before. At least not in person. He heard plenty of stories about them and had seen pictures in old books but he had never before been face to face with one. It was big and ugly, a bear with a skull-like face and plenty of spikes. Ashton turned back to find Cardin was long gone, his friends were practically dragging him. Ashton turned back to Lyra, who was practically frozen in fear.

"Lyra." Ashton said in an almost nasally voice. He was trying to keep the gushing blood down. "It might be time to run now."

"You alright?" She asked backing up. "You aren't looking too good."

"I'll be fine. I think." Ashton replied staring the beast straight in the eyes. It let out another roar and started charging. "Running time now!"

They set off full speed, sprinting through the forest. The sounds of trees cracking behind them was something of a motivator. Lyra shrieked, Ashton wasn't paying attention where he was going and found himself tumbling down a cliff, he could see Lyra tumbling further down. The river bed below didn't look comfortable. He hit the bottom hard, gazing up at the sky he could see the ursa looking down at him, he could hear Lyra coughing and gasping.

"Are we dead?" She asked. Ashton felt like he cracked a rib, laughing hurt. "If we're dead I have to say. One, that sucks. Two, why does it still hurt."

"I don't think we're dead. Also I agree this sucks." Ashton groaned. He rolled over, he wasn't exactly pleased with what he found himself looking at. Seven ursas just like the one before were sitting in the river bed staring at him. "Lyra, I think we have a problem."

"What are you... oh dear." She squeaked, she staggered back to the cliff and raised her knife. "Get up Ashton, you need to start running."

"I can't run, I can barely move." Ashton grunted. He tried to move but the pain was unbearable. "I think I cracked a rib."

"Alright, I have an idea." She said reaching into her pockets, she pulled out an old flute. She let out a sigh. "This is probably stupid but it just might work."

Ashton wanted to interject, ask what she was talking about but he just couldn't. Music interrupted the growling of beasts. He turned his head to see Lyra playing the old flute, however there was something strange about it. Almost entrancing. He felt like he was about to fall asleep. Judging from the slowing growls of the ursa, they were of the same mind. His eyes grew heavy until everything went dark.

Ashton awoke in his bedroom back in the Gray Manor. Beams of sunlight were shining through the half opened blinds. It felt like a lifetime since he was last here. He hopped out of his bed and hurried out to the main hall. The walls were lined with family portraits. He couldn't help but smile, the manor hasn't looked this good in almost a decade. With that thought he watched as it all began to wither. The wallpaper began to peel away, the floor became buried in dust and the windows started to crack. Howling wind was blowing against the blinds. On the biggest window overlooking the main hall were three bloody scratches. The manor caught fire and began to vanish under the billowing smoke.

Ashton woke up to annoyed grunting, his legs were dragging against the grass, occasionally and painfully banging against a rock. He looked up to see Lyra visibly struggling to drag him. He's amazed she got this far. She noticed he was awake and dropped him with a shriek. He hit his head pretty hard, he could almost see little nevermores flying around his head. There was a sharp slap and suddenly he was awake again.

"I'm really getting tired of dragging you!" She said with a heavy pant, she collapsed beside him. "You are so heavy."

"What happened, why aren't we dead?" Ashton asked, he tried to lift himself up again, the pain seemed to have subsided. They were nowhere near a riverbed, that was for sure.

"I didn't know if it would work, my mother's flute." She said holding it up, her eyes almost watered. "They told me stories of the things she could do with this thing, things I never thought possible."

"Are you sure it's the flute, that kind of talent doesn't come from a tool." Ashton said, he held opened his jacket and lifted his shirt, there was a large bruise on his chest. He pulled his shirt down again and tried to sit up. He winced all the way up to a sitting position.

"That's ridiculous, I couldn't possibly do anything like that." She said, stuffing the flute back in her pocket. She helped Ashton to his feet. Together they stumbled off into the forest. His weight shifted onto her shoulder and he felt her struggling. "You really are heavy."

"I take offense to that..." Ashton groaned. It was going to be a long journey.

They were entered a clearing, the distant gunfire had long since died down. They were barely across it when an echoing roar caught them by surprise. Barely having time to turn, a beowulf of incredible size was standing behind them. The beast's head reached the lower canopies of nearby pine trees. It's colors were all inverted, it's fur was all white, it's skull was solid black. More troubling was the fact it wasn't alone, an entire pack of smaller beowulves of the same color scheme watched silently from the bushes. The beast let out a fearsome howl, the rest of the beowulves charged. It did not.

"Well, I think this is high time for us to start running!" Ashton shouted, but as soon as he lifted one of his legs, he stumbled face first into the ground. "Plan B?"

Lyra raised her flute to her lips, she began to play it and the beowulves stopped charging, they started shaking their heads violently. The inverted beowulf let out an intimidating howl, Lyra squeaked, jumping a good seven feet into the air. The beowulves continued their charge. The beowulves were upon them when they were interrupted by a blood curdling scream, the wolves actually stopped to see where it was coming from.

The first beowulf to turn was hit first, the greatsword cleaved it clean in half. The rest of the beowulves charged their new found attacker, who swung his sword without mercy nor fear. Ashton had to squint to be sure, it was Billy with his family sword cleaving his way to victory. The massive beowulf stepped towards them on all fours, letting loose a horrifying howl. Billy pounded his chest and screamed right back at him. The beast was upon him in a single step and sent Billy flying into a nearby tree effortlessly, the beast turned to the others.

There was a flash of green, suddenly dark glyphs were covering the beasts entire body. Black bolts shot out from the trees exploding upon impact, sending the giant beast staggering. A massive spray of green gas erupted from the ground below it, which exploded into an emerald fireball shortly after. The beast flew into the air where it was met by a great harpoon of violet neon, colliding straight into it's eye. It let out a howl of pain as it hit the ground. It turned tail and ran, yelping all the way as it did.

"Holy sweet mother of..." Ashton began but as soon as he saw his savior his voice trailed off. His mysterious dark haired girl stepped from the shadows, she held her knife backwards, pointing the long ebony wood handle in the direction of her attacker.

"Thank you so much!" Lyra squealed, running towards her with her arms outstretched. She was met with a hand.

"Please don't touch me." The girl replied curtly, she holstered her knife. "I didn't do it for you."

"So you did it for me?" Ashton asked with his usual swagger. He tried to pull himself up, he ended up collapsing feebly to the ground.

"No I did it for him." She said unenthusiastically, as she pointed to Billy. Ashton looked completely confused, she seemed to catch that and explained. "I ran into him when I landed, we're partners now."

"Right, Billy you okay?" Ashton asked, Billy raised a thumbs up. His smile never faded from his face, that was a bit disturbing. At least Ashton thought so. Billy pulled himself to his feet.

"You okay Ashton?" Billy asked with a toothy grin.

"I can't really stand." Ashton shrugged. "I've been worse."

Without warning Billy scooped Ashton up and swung him over his shoulders. He tried to protest but at this point was to tired. He could hear the girls laughing at him, he tried to laugh too but felt a little head rushed. Billy led the way, the girls trailing behind them. Fortunately Ashton was facing them, however he felt a little naked considering he couldn't tell where they were going.

"So, mystery girl, you going to tell me your name?" Ashton asked, his voice fluctuated with each step as his lungs collided with Billy's shoulder. "Or shall I start guessing?"

"Oh by all means, guess away." She said with a slight smile, she must have been enjoying this.

"Alright, I can do this." Ashton whispered, he carefully looked into her eyes. "Jennifer, Arryn, Miranda, Kara, Lisa, Lindsay, Barbara, Midnight, Whisper, Freckles, am I getting close?"

"Not even a little." She replied with a half giggle. She looked like she was trying desperately not to laugh. "Do I seriously look like a Freckles?"

"Maybe in the right lighting." He replied with a shrug. She scowled.

"You know, if we are working together we can at least know your name." Lyra murmured, she sounded pretty annoyed. The dark haired girl turned her head and gave Lyra a once over with her eyes.

"Well alright, it seems fair enough." She said cautiously. There was something to her awkward movements as she said it, as if they were breaching whatever veil of security she had in anonymity. "My name is Morgana. Morgana Umber."

"Morgana, what a beautiful name." Ashton said with a sly grin, she turned her head immediately with a small scoff.

"Oh get a room already!" Lyra snapped, she stormed off ahead. Ashton physically couldn't see that direction so he turned back to Morgana. He could hear a loud squeal.

"Uh oh, we have a problem." Billy whispered. Ashton struggled to get a view, Billy swung him from his shoulder and held him upright. There was a massive beowulf, like the one from before but with the usual black fur and white skull. Behind it were plenty of other smaller beowulves just like it.

Ashton whipped out Silver Faust and aimed it carefully, Billy let go of him and he collapsed on the ground. Billy drew his greatsword, he could see both of the girls grab their weapons. The beasts charged. From out of nowhere a beowulf jumped Billy from the side, the rest were upon them before they could react. Ashton could only see running wolves everywhere he looked, the group was scattered before they could even fight back.

"Morgana!" Ashton shouted, he could barely hear her response. "Wait for my signal then throw every spell you got!"

"What's the signal?" She snapped back, he could barely hear her under all the growling.

"Lyra!" Ashton shouted. "You know what to do!"

"Alright!" She squeaked. He could hear the music playing, the wolves slowed to a stop. It would only last a few seconds."

"Morgana, now!" Ashton screamed. Black bolts shot in every direction. A great green fog was billowing around the massive wolf. "Billy, swing away!"

He could hear the blood curdling screams as Billy swung through the crowd swing his blade around in circles. Blood splattered everywhere as he spun, a beowulf was clinging to his back, gnawing on his shoulder. Ashton raised Silver Faust and shot a hole through the beast's head. He loaded Silver Faust with his burn dust rounds. Billy was easily mopping up the stunned beowulves but the big one was now charging. Billy didn't fare too well against the last one.

"Morgana, take out the big one!" Ashton cried. He could see Morgana swing her wand, the beast was covered in black glyphs. She shot black bolts at the beasts, detonating the glyphs. Ashton fired Silver Faust repeatedly into it's face, it staggered back. "Billy, now!"

Billy ran at it screaming his battle cry as he dove into the air, blade aimed down and stabbed the beast right through the heart. He pounded his chest as he did. Lyra stumbled towards the beast and kicked it in the face, just to be sure. Billy picked Ashton up and swung him over his shoulder again.

"How about we grab those relics before it get's dark, shall we?" Ashton asked, the others nodded in agreement and quickened the pace.

They arrived at an old stone temple, if you can call it that. It was a stone circle that once could offer shelter, now it was like a roofless gazebo. The circle had several half pillars, only a couple of them had anything on it. Chess pieces. Two white bishops.

"Well, it looks like somebody picked all the good ones." Ashton said with a shrug, scooping up a white bishop piece, Billy grabbed another. "Is that it?"

"We went all this way for chess pieces?" Morgana asked. "What kind of place is this?"

"I feel like sending an angry letter to Ozpin." Ashton groaned, his body was screaming at him at this point. "We almost died for two pieces of a chess set."

"We proved we could do this." Billy said enthusiastically. "We proved we could be heroes."

"We proved we can survive getting our asses kicked." Ashton interjected. "Heroes we are not."

"Come on, can't we go back now." Lyra asked. She tugged on her hood nervously watching the forest. "I've had enough of this forest to last a lifetime."

The main hall of beacon academy was packed with students. The groups were being divided into their teams. Ozpin one by one introduced the groups to the crowd. Finally they were called up, standing on stage, Ashton had a pair of crutches holding him up. He was told he would be fine, that nothing was broken at the very least.

"Ashton Gray, Lyra Tawny, Billy Boyd, Morgana Umber. Together you retrieved the White Bishop piece and survived the longest in the forest than any other group." Ozpin began, Ashton stifled a laugh, last to leave, at least they achieved something in that forest. "From now on you will be known as team ALBM, led by Ashton Gray."

The crowd cheered, Billy jumped excitedly, the girls both looked irritated. Apparently he wasn't too popular at the moment. Ashton and his group stepped off the stage. Once the rest of the groups were listed off, ending with CRDL, led by Cardin, JNPR, led by Vomit boy and RWBY, in which Weiss was apart of. They finally were allowed to head off to their team dorms. Glynda approached ALBM with a smile.

"Follow me please, I will show you to your dorms, personally." She said, the big grin on her face was starting to unsettle him. Ashton nodded and followed. She led them past the usual dorms all the way to the very far end. She opened a door and a thick layer of dust sprung free from the room. She pointed to the room, peering inside they could see the room they would share for the next four years. It was cramped, it was dusty, it had frighteningly big cobwebs. In short, it was more of an abandoned closet than a dorm room. "Welcome to Beacon, enjoy your stay."

Ashton waited until she had long since walked off before he asked. "Do you ever get the feeling she hates us?"

The rest of the group gave a weary shrug as they stumble inside. They spent the next hour trying to clean up as best they could. Morgana and Ashton were put on spider web duty as neither Lyra nor Billy would go near it. Eventually it looked alright, though it was stuffy and the only window was small and barred. It was almost like prison. Ashton figured Glynda put them here on purpose.

"So, Ashton. If you're are leader does this mean you're going to be less of a prick?" Lyra asked. Ashton collapsed onto his bed, a thick cloud of dust shot up into the air as he did. He let out a loud sigh.

"Please, call me Ash." Ashton replied. She frowned and slumped into another bed. Ashton stared up at the ceiling. He went from prison to leader of the most unpopular team of fighters in an unorthodox academy that seemed to be led by a madman. All in the expanse of two days. Funny how life works.


	5. Chapter 5 - Leadership

Chapter 5. Leadership and Other Troublesome Things.

The morning came quicker than it should have, sun shined on Ash's face. He opened one eye carefully, it seemed to be the only ray of light that could make it through the window. He turned his head slowly, a face blocked his view.

"Gah!" Ash shouted, throwing himself off the bed and onto the hardwood floor. He let out a deep sigh, a thick dust cloud followed. "Billy, we need to talk about personal space."

"I'm sorry I startled you, the mean lady wanted me to wake you up." He said with an ever so slight wince. He leaned forward to whisper. "She's really mean, can we maybe switch partners?"

"I don't think it works like that Billy." Ash groaned. He pulled himself to his feet and wiped his eyes violently. He collapsed back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling, even after all their efforts to clean the place, dust hung from the ceiling like moss. "Where are the others?"

"The bathroom, they kept saying they couldn't trust me not to look." Billy said with his usual smile, he had a slightly quizzical look. "I don't know what I was supposed to be looking at."

"Of course you don't." Ash said. He smiled as he grabbed his clothes and quickly changed. He took a glance at the clock, it took him a moment to realize it was broken. Figures. He wouldn't be surprised if Glynda broke it herself. "When is our class?"

"Nine, or nine thirty, or ten." Billy stammered. He scratched his head. "I know this, give me a minute."

The door swung open, Morgana and Lyra stomped in. By the way they refused to look anywhere near each other it would be a safe bet they just had a fight. This team is perfect.

"Morning ladies, did I miss anything fun?" Ash asked, a sly grin drew across his face, it was met by matching death glares. He recoiled slightly.

"Can you tell this little rat I don't want to speak to her, nor do I want to hear another word out of her mouth." Morgana roared. Ash recoiled even more.

"Can you tell this harpy to stay away from me?" Lyra shrieked back. Ash recoiled to the point he couldn't find his neck. He was leaning so far back he was on the verge of tipping over.

"Alright, what happened?" Ash asked. He swallowed hard, they both opened their mouths.

"She won't leave me alone!" Morgana shrieked. The room felt as if it was getting colder.

"She's an insufferable hag!" Lyra spat. Billy looked back and forth. He stepped quietly to his bed and hid behind it.

"Can I just add..." Ash began, he had no idea where he was going. He could feel sweat dripping down his face as the two continued to give him looks that he was sure would haunt him for the rest of his life. "...how absolutely lovely you two look this morning?"

"Ugh!" They both shouted in unison, throwing their arms up and stomping to the door. They fought over it for a minute before throwing their heads up and storming out quietly.

"Is it safe to come out?" Billy asked quietly. Ash couldn't even see him anymore.

"Yeah Billy, it's time to go." Ash replied. He wiped the sweat off his brow and took a deep breath. His neck was sore. There was a loud bang, Billy's bed shot into the air. It landed with a thud.

"Ow." Billy muttered, he pulled himself out from under the bed and dusted himself off.

"Let's get to class." Ash shrugged. This day was off to a wonderful start.

Class wasn't much better, the uncomfortable silence was deafening. Billy and Ash sat between the two angry ladies and shifted uneasy glances. When Professor Port stepped in, they couldn't help but sigh in relief. Then he opened his mouth and proved that this class was going to be a boring. It was a no win situation. Ash buried his face in his arms.

The class drew on for several minutes, Port rambled on about his glory days, putting too much emphasis on how much of a ladies man he was. Half the class was sleeping, nobody seemed to notice nor care. Ash felt it was a great idea. He woke up a few minutes later, something was happening. Stepping up in front of the class was Weiss Schee. Ash heard himself groan, his morning just couldn't get any worse now could it. Rude awakening, check, a not in the fun way catfight, check, boring class, check, hated adversary showing off, check. Where's Cardin when you need him.

Ash thought about how things used to be, back at his manor. It was a different time. His father would take him out to for sparring practice on saturday mornings when the weather permitted, he would read to him at night and would help him with his homework whenever he came home. Ash remembered sundays were his favorite of days, going out on the yacht, sailing aimlessly for hours. The Gray Dawn, how he missed that boat. He remembered it being repossessed, he remembered watching his father lose everything. The manor lost it's staff. It fell so horribly into disrepair, they were forced to live in the guesthouse. The Schnee Dust Company didn't seem to care, they didn't care that they just ruined a family, ruined a childhood. They just wanted more profit. Weiss Schnee, by the looks of it she got everything she ever wanted. Ash, he got prison.

Class was dismissed, thankfully this school wasn't particularly packed. Students were expected to spend a great deal of their day to day training and getting to know their teams strengths and weaknesses. Rumors were spreading of an upcoming tournament, that students will be selected based on results during combat trials in the upcoming weeks. It's funny how uncredited information can cause some anxiety amongst the young. Ash wasn't entirely sure about the situation, Lyra and Morgana were just as likely to attack each other than an opposing team. Billy doesn't like hurting people, Lyra herself doesn't even know how to fight. Why was he in charge? Ash pondered that as he trudged back to his dorm.

"What are you doing?" The voice came from behind him, he jumped and turned around. Glynda was giving him a fierce look from behind her oval glasses.

"Returning to my dorm?" Ash replied wearily. Between Cardin, Weiss and Glynda, he was wondering how today could get any worse. "Is that against the rules?"

"You have free time?" Glynda asked. Ash felt his heart sinking into his stomach. He knew where this was going.

"Yes, but I was thinking of taking a nap. I woke up pretty early today and it's been pretty hec..." Ash began to explain but judging from the smirk on her face she had something devious planned. He let out a sigh.

"I need somebody to clean Professor Oobleck's classroom, apparently the window was left open and some birds got in." She had the widest of smiles. "It's quite the mess but you look like you can handle it."

"Alright." Ash responded with a shrug.

Professor Oobleck had a smaller classroom than Professor Port. There was a lot more in it, stacks upon stacks of notes and boards covered in charts. Unfortunately, the place was turned into a bird toilet. The smell was horrible. In the class there was one other student, on his hands and knees scrubbing the floor. He was wearing a green long coat with a matching wide brimmed hat, there was a peacock feather tied to it. He was fairly tall and had long blonde hair. He smiled back at Ash.

"So, you here to help me clean?" He smiled back, he looked like he might have been one of the older students. "Sorry, forgot my manners. Gabriel Gwyrdd, team ALGT, second year."

"Ashton Gray, team ALBM, first year." Ashton replied back. "What are you in for?"

"I opened the window." Gabriel said, chuckling quietly. "I was trying to impress a girl by showing how kind and considerate I am. You see, I let this adorable little pigeon into the class and was playing with it and showing how great I am with animals. Next thing I know fifty others swarm in, and the rest truly is history. What about you?"

"Glynda hates me and she caught me with free time." Ash said with a shrug. Gabriel gave a knowing nod.

"I know that all too well." Gabriel said with a slight grunt, the particular floorboard he was working was refusing to cooperate. "She hated me my entire first year here. Still does but is less vocal about it."

"What did you do?" Ash asked. Gabriel seemed to pause for a moment before answering with a big grin.

"I told her I find her librarian look sexy." Gabriel replied, he let out a hearty laugh. "She smacked me with that riding crop she loves so much and I told her I thought that was sexy too. Next thing I know I'm in a storage closet trying to dust with a toothbrush. What about you?"

"Ozpin bailed me out of jail, apparently she thinks I'm going to become just another street thug." Ash said, grabbing a brush and began scrubbing the floorboards.

"One of Ozpin's chaingangs then, I knew one of the last group. His name was Michael, he was a mouthy one." Gabriel said leaning back against a freshly scrubbed stairwell. "I think he might be the sole reason she hates all of Ozpin's prison exchange students."

"What happened?" Ash asked. He scrapped the brush against the floor, the mess was like cement.

"He would scream about everything. I swear the man invented five curse words a day." Gabriel shook his head nostalgically. "He graduated but nobody has heard from him since. Some people say he skipped the kingdom, others say he joined a gang. There's a popular theory he's back in prison."

"What about his team, they have no idea?" Ash asked. He managed to get most of the main floor clean, only to find it was dripping off the desk leaving a dirty trail behind him.

"Come to think of it, I can't recall what happened to his team. Or any of the other chaingangs." Gabriel took a minute to think. He shrugged. "I mean, I've heard about what the other graduate students have been up to, you'd think reformed prisoners would get a little press coverage once in a while. Something to think about I guess."

Ash felt a little uneasy. It wasn't exactly a comforting thought. They continued talking until they finished up. They headed together to get some food, then parted ways to head for their teams.

He sat down next to Lyra, she and Morgana were giving each other death glares from across the table. Billy looked like he was shrinking. He quietly ate his food. The rest of the hall was packed with students. He could make out Cardin and his gang, he also could see Weiss and her group. He noticed that blonde kid who puked on the airship, he had teamed up with the girl who was after his pancakes, her friend and a very familiar looking girl he couldn't place. He turned back to Lyra and Morgana. He needed to do something about this. For his sake at least.

"Alright, that's enough you two." Ash said calmly, placing his fork down. "This fight has gone on long enough."

"She started it!" Lyra blurted out. Billy buried himself in his arms uncomfortably.

"I am really getting sick of the little mouse, she never stops squeaking." Morgana replied. She let out a long sigh.

"Alright, I want to make sure you understand." Ash said sternly. He took a sip from his glass of water. "I don't care, about any of this. I don't care what your fight is about or if your feelings are hurt. If you don't get your act in gear then we are all going to be back in jail. How does that sound?"

"When she apologizes." Morgana stubbornly responded. He could swear she stamped her foot under the table.

"Apologize?" Lyra squeaked. "You started the fight."

"You started it!" Morgana shouted back.

"Shut up!" Ash shouted at them, he could tell he was drawing an audience. "I don't care, you two need to come to an agreement not to talk about whatever it is that's bothering the two of you ever again or so help me, I will personally give Ozpin a reason to throw all of us out."

"That's not fair!" Lyra and Morgana shouted in unison.

"Exactly, that's not fair to me. That's not fair to Billy here." Ash said slamming his fist into the table, he didn't need to but he figured it would help sell a point. "Look at poor Billy here, he's been listening to you fight all day and it bothers him. You don't want to send him back, he doesn't belong there."

"But..." Lyra squeaked but Ash cut her off.

"No buts, you two don't put a cork in it then you'll be sitting in a cell." Ash said, he stared right into Lyra's eyes and they sunk down to the floor.

"S-sorry M-Morgana." She stuttered. She shifted quietly and buried her head in her hands. Ash turned towards Morgana who defiantly stared him back.

"Apology accepted." She muttered with as much attitude as she could. She let out a sigh. "Sorry Lyra, you happy Ash?"

"Yes, now eat your food and get some sleep." He said climbing to his feet. People were turning away uncomfortably. "I'm going to get some rest, I had a long day."

He left the cafeteria and found his dusty dorm, he slumped into his bed and a massive cloud burst from it. He rolled over and closed his eyes. None of the previous convicts Ozpin collected have ever been seen since. He was starting to doubt Ozpin's sincerity. He needed to think of an alternate way out. Just in case.

Professor Oobleck zoomed around the classroom rambling about the faunus war. Ash was slumped in his seat half asleep. His team has been pretty quiet. The truce between Lyra and Morgana came at a cost. Instead of fighting, they stayed out of each others way. The group was dead silent at this point, the most communication seemed to be a few vague shrugs. Oobleck continued to his coffee infused ramblings. It was like the opposite of Port's class yet still dull. He woke with a jolt, Billy was motioning to the door. He must have fallen asleep. He grabbed his books.

"Our group isn't working." Billy said quietly. Ash turned to him, he didn't look like his usual happy self. "Our group is broken."

"We aren't broken, we just don't mesh well." Ash reassured him. He was fine with the current situation, the rest of the group don't bother him now and they seem to be fulfilling the bare minimum to survive in this school. He had a bit of a soft spot for Billy though, who had been nothing but good to him since he arrived here.

"Why not? We're all criminals? We're all bad people." Billy said, his voice quivered slightly. "None of us matter, isn't that enough? We don't work anywhere else, why can't we at least work here?"

"I..." Ash felt like he was kicked in the chest. It was way to poignant for something Billy would say. They were criminals, they might very well be terrible people, they didn't matter. They were going to vanish as soon as they graduated, never to become known for anything worthwhile. Their lives were over. The thought sank into Ash's stomach, he felt sick. His whole life he was taught to believe in himself, believe in his destiny, his legacy. The idea of having none pained him. Maybe that was it, maybe he just needed to make a new legacy. If that was at all possible. He smiled. "No Billy. We matter, we exist, we have a destiny."

"What destiny could we possibly have?" Billy asked. It was like a knot in his stomach, Ash struggled to find the words.

"Ozpin is giving us a chance, the warden couldn't stop him from taking us. Nobody can now. Not Glynda, not Cardin, not an army of Grimm. We don't work anywhere else, we aren't accepted anywhere else. All we have for the next four years is each other." Ash paused, the words came to his mouth with less thought than he'd anticipated. He felt confident in them, though he wasn't quite sure where they came from. "The whole school is underestimating us. I think it's time we show them what four misfits can do."

"Do you really mean it?" Billy's eyes went wide, a smile was starting to etch across his gloomy face.

"I do, I don't know why but I do. We need to make this work, we need to find a way." Ash said, he did feel good about it. That knot disappeared. "Find the girls, get them to the dorm, we need to have a chat."

Billy ran off excitedly, Ash took a deep breath and turned around. He was staring at a man in a green suit with a cup of coffee in his hand. Ozpin had a peculiar smile across his face. He gazed through his round sunglasses.

"That was quite admirable of you." He said. He took a sip from his mug. "Leadership fits you well."

"I wouldn't say it does, my group hasn't exactly been working as a team." Ashton shrugged. Billy was the only one on the team that didn't seem to hate him. "We don't exactly get along."

"Leadership isn't about getting along." Ozpin clarified. He pushed his sunglasses up. "Leadership is about doing what needs to be done. When your team is struggling, it's about taking action when no one else will. It's about making hard calls that your team will resent you for, for the sake of the group."

"So your saying the ability to manage my team efficiently should outweigh my friendship?" Ash asked. It seemed like odd advice coming from him.

"Friendship doesn't win a battle against a creature such as a grimm. Coordination and discipline do." Ozpin stated rather bluntly. He took another sip on his coffee, carefully watching Ash, who simply pondered what he was hearing. "Do you agree?"

"I do, I'm just surprised to hear you say it." Ash replied. He felt like he was being tested. Ozpin simply shrugged.

"I didn't get to the position I'm at by playing favorites and sacrificing an advantage. You always play to win." Ozpin said curtly. He smiled slightly. "I've made many mistakes, plenty of bad calls but I have learned from them. I have high hopes you will learn from yours. You are a born leader, you need only accept it."

Without another word he turned around and strolled casually down the hall. Ash watched him leave, his mind processing what he had just heard. He then realized he should probably head back to his dorm, Billy probably found the girls and they would be waiting on him. He needed to start taking charge, he needed to succeed.

The talk went well, or as well as it could. He explained what he had told Billy. Ozpin's words lingered on his mind. There was something strange about that man, just like the rest of this academy. Ash didn't trust him, then again there were few he did trust. Nobody powerful enough to take prisoners like himself out of prison shouldn't be trusted. Especially when they have a personal army of warriors at their disposal.

Then again his mind shifted to the grimm. He knew little about grimm other than what he had read in stories. Seeing them face to face was a little unnerving. Especially those great beowulves. They were massive, they seemed to be the ones in charge. They weren't like anything he'd read about. They were something else entirely.

"Between organized grimm, Ozpin's suspicious behavior and an academy that seemed out to get us. This team shouldn't be wasting it's time fighting amongst itself. So, is this done?" Ashton finished, Lyra and Morgana shifted uncomfortably. Morgana rolled her eyes for a moment and let out a sigh.

"Yes, it's done." She said, there was a slight huff in her voice but she relented. Ash figured that was as good as he could get.

"Alright, it's done." Lyra shrugged. Billy let out a sigh as if he's been holding his breath since the fight began. "What's the plan then?"

"We need to be cautious from now on. Glynda has been looking for an excuse to throw us out and seems to enjoy dishing out pointless punishment our way." Ash said, sitting down at the foot of his bed. "We need to keep clear of her, we need to work together more as a team. We need to start training."

"Training for what?" Billy asked. His head tilted slightly.

"Combat, teamwork, whatever else we have problem with." Ash said. Morgana scoffed for a moment. Ash simply stared at her. "Billy is pretty tough but he has no coordination. Morgana is a heavy hitter, doesn't work well with the rest of the team. Lyra has no particular combat training, but she has some unique skills that could help us."

"What kind of skills are we talking?" Morgana asked. Lyra shifted quietly.

"I knocked out a group of ursa with music." Lyra squeaked nervously.

"So it's your semblance?" Morgana asked. She pondered for a moment. "That could be useful. I have my glyphs. Billy what do you have?"

"What?" Billy asked, his head was practically horizontal.

"Your semblance?" Morgana asked, she was clearly getting annoyed. He responded with a confused look. She turned to Ash. "I don't know, maybe it's his size. He's pretty big. What about you Ashton?"

"Uh..." Ash blanked. He had no idea. "I don't have one."

"Doesn't everyone have one?" Morgana asked. The confused looks on everyone's faces didn't give her a clear answer.

"Well, we need to start training." Ash said, things might be looking up. That is if they actually learn how to work together.


	6. Chapter 6 - Training Days

Chapter 6. Training Days.

Over the next couple weeks, team ALBM had started their training sessions. Ash tried as best he could to teach his team how to fight, but between Billy's overly excited movements, Lyra's fear of fighting and Morgana's outright refusal to fight up close, he had his hands full. Morgana took over afterward to try to educate the team on semblance, aura and dust. It was a tricky thing to teach, especially since they didn't know what half the team's semblance was.

"Alright, now use your aura Ash!" Morgana shouted as she whipped black bolts at him. He flipped out of the way. She started cursing. "Quit flipping around! You do know what aura is right?"

"Of course I know what aura is, I'm not an idiot!" Ash shouted back, he flipped out of the way of more black bolts. "I just don't know how to use it."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Morgana shouted, whipping bolts faster and faster. He tried to flip out of the way but was hit in mid air, he slammed right into a wall. "Alright, Billy's next! Billy wake up!"

"Billy's sleeping." Lyra squeaked back awkwardly. "Silver lining, I think I'm getting better with this semblance thing."

"Alright, maybe we should call it a wrap or something." Ash groaned, limping back towards the others. "Good hustle team."

"Are you alright?" Morgana asked, he was surprised to hear a note of concern for his well being.

"No, I think I cracked a rib. Again." Ash said, he was smiling, he couldn't seem to stop. It hurt that much.

"Good!" She said with a broad grin. The note of concern wasn't there anymore. "Maybe next time you'll use your aura."

"I'm in so much pain." Ash muttered, his lips barely moved, his face frozen in a pained smile.

"Walk it off." She replied. She sauntered off. He stood helpless for a moment before collapsing to the ground.

He stared up at the sky, the fluffy white clouds floated across the blue backdrop. A cool wind blew over his body, cooling it rapidly. He felt great, other than the pain of course. He wiped the sweat from his brow and relaxed. He heard footsteps approaching him.

"Well look who it is." Came a familiar voice. Gabriel, the second year. "If it isn't the chainganger."

"Gabriel, how are you doing?" Ash asked. Gabriel stared down at him, eyebrow raised.

"I'm doing great, what are you doing on the ground?" Gabriel asked. He held his hand out. Ash passed on it.

"I'm good here, think I cracked a rib training but as long as I don't move, it doesn't hurt. That much." Ash groaned. He felt hands grab his shoulders and lift, there was a lot of pain. He noticed there was another person standing next to Gabriel, he wore ruddy red plate armor over dark leather. It wasn't something you normally saw these days but it looked pretty imposing. His face was obscured by a bucket helm, a burning sword was painted across his breastplate. Despite his imposing appearance he was noticeably shorter than Gabriel.

"Oh I apologize!" Gabriel interjected. "Ashton Gray, Toreth Rudd. Toreth is one of my team mates."

"Pleased to meet you." Ash said weakly, holding out his hand. Toreth simply stared back, he cautious raised his hand and shook it. His grip was strong and surprisingly hot to the touch. "Now if you'll excuse me."

Ash collapsed face first into the pavement. He could hear cursing and they turned him over. His face was bleeding, he probably landed on his nose. His eyes were stinging, he couldn't open them. He heard someone shouting. He tried to listen.

"What is going on here?" A woman asked, her voice was soft and delicate, yet she carried it with surprising force. It was intoxicating.

"I, uh, he fell, and uh..." Gabriel stammered, Gabriel didn't seem the one to stammer so easily. Ash struggled to open his eyes but they were stinging so badly. He had to get a look at this girl. Suddenly he felt a hand gently touching his chest.

"Are you okay?" The voice asked, clearly aimed at him now. He tried again to open his eyes but it burned. The hand moved across his face, it was like velvet. His breathing went heavy. "Shhh, don't struggle, your making it worse. I can help."

"W-what?" Gabriel stammered. He could hear an awkward cough coming from inside Toreth's helmet. Suddenly soft lips were pressed against Ash's and he felt the whole world wash away. It was like his soul shot off into the sky and was now in free fall. He felt great. It took him a while to notice the lips were gone, he opened his eyes in a panic.

He was staring up at a delicate looking girl with long blonde hair and vibrant green eyes. She wore an intricate rose ensemble with the usual battleskirt he's been seeing all over Beacon. She wore an ordinary blue jean jacket over it. He couldn't stop smiling, he noticed he wasn't in pain anymore.

"How are you?" She asked softly. He felt like that was a trick question.

"I feel amazing." Ash said through his giant grin. He was blushing profusely.

"How did you do that?" Gabriel asked. "He was a bloody mess a few seconds ago."

"It's my semblance." She said with a slight curtsy.

"You know, I'm feeling pretty sore myself." Gabriel said with a big grin. "Maybe you can kiss me."

"You look fine." She said. She laughed, Ash felt chills when she did it. He was completely speechless.

"No I'm not, I have a black eye, see!" He said, he smacked Toreth in the shoulder who immediately decked him. Gabriel dropped to the ground like a rock. She swung around gracefully. Ash could have sworn he saw her wink at him. She opened up a lacy rose umbrella and strolled off.

"D-did that just happen?" Ash finally managed to stammer out. His heart felt like it was going to burst from his chest.

"I-I have no idea." Gabriel stammered back. He lifted himself off the ground. Toreth simply shrugged. "I've never seen that girl before."

"We never learned her name." Ash said, pulling himself to his feet.

"We never learned her name?" Gabriel shouted. He smacked Toreth on the shoulder. "I'm going for it!"

He sprinted off full speed in the direction she left. Ash looked back to Toreth who shrugged. Toreth patted him on the shoulder before leaving. Ash stood around in the empty courtyard for a few moments, he felt like his breath was finally coming back to him.

Over the next few days Ash had the pleasure of not having to see Cardin's ugly mug around. He seemed to be busy elsewhere. ALBM was training harder than ever but there still were plenty of problems. Morgana and Lyra both didn't have particularly useful weapons. That and they still hated each other, even if they are both pretending otherwise. That and every sparring match with Billy usually has him flailing around without any direction or focus. Ozpin saw something in this team, he had to if he hand selected them, but the mystery of what that might be was really starting to eat away at Ash. Out of nowhere a finger poked him in the nose.

"Boop!" Came a excited voice. He turned to his unexpected company and found Nora balancing on one foot.

"What was that for?" Ash asked. She wobbled back and forth with a big smile.

"You looked pretty bummed out so I thought I'd cheer you up!" She said in a sing song sort of way. Ash couldn't help but smile.

"Just tired out from training." Ash said, she nodded and gave him a salute.

"Where's your friend?" Ash asked. She took a moment as if she was trying to remember a phone number. She eventually figured out who he was talking about.

"Ren! He's over by the drinking fountain back there. I challenged him to a race and he's still pretty tired out." Said Nora as she began cartwheeling around him. She stopped and leaned in close. "Don't tell anyone but he get's winded pretty easy if you ask me."

"Are you two..." Ash began, Nora immediately began to shake her head.

"No we're partners. Not partners partners but the other kind of partner." She began to blurt out. He may have just opened a can of worms. It took him a moment to realize she was still rambling. "Not that he isn't an attractive man, he has that whole zen thing that he pulls off so well but..."

"Nora, I understand." Ash interrupted. She looked over her shoulder and started hopping up and down.

"Speak of the devil, gotta go!" She shouted. She sprinted off full speed. Ren was limping by holding a glass of water. Ash watched as Nora tackled him full speed sending the glass of water soaring into the air. Ren somehow managed to catch it while he was still sprawled out on the floor. The water, however, was now all over the place.

Glynda was hosting sparring matches both to educate the weaker students in how to properly fight and to prepare those who are signing up for the big upcoming tournament at the Vytal Festival. Ash was up against a girl with red hair and a very exotic outfit. She carried a sword and shield. She looked very familiar but he just couldn't place it. He figured it couldn't be too much trouble.

"Now, remember to keep an eye on your aura." Glynda instructed as they circled each other, weapons drawn. "You may begin."

The girl was fast, before he could take another step she was at his throat. He flipped out of the way, swinging his blade down on her, she deflected it with her shield. He barely had time to parry her next attack when she smacked him in the chest with the side of her shield. He staggered back and before he could take another step her shield collided with his face. He could see a splatter of blood coming from his nose. He fell on his ass. He couldn't figure out where his weapon went. She knelt down next to him.

"I'm sorry!" She shouted mopping his face down with a cloth. "I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

"Mr Gray, why didn't you use your aura?" Glynda asked. "You're almost as bad as Mr Arc."

"I thought I could win without it." Ash answered, he didn't feel like telling her he didn't know how to use his aura.

"Mr Gray, why did you think you could win against a world renowned tournament champion such as Ms Nikos here." Glynda asked. Ash turned back to the red haired girl who had a sort of nervous smile.

"Well I just trusted you to set me up with someone I had a chance with." Ash said, he immediately wiped the smile of his face. Glynda looked pretty pissed.

"He has a point, he wasn't ready for that level of fighting." Ms Nikos said standing up. "He should have gone against a less skilled opponent.

"Then how would he ever learn?" Glynda asked. "If he is ever to succeed he needs to be challenged. That goes with you too Mr Arc. Class dismissed."

"Thanks for standing up for me there." Ash said, the girl patted him on the shoulder. "I'm Ashton, Ashton Gray."

"Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos." She said with a smile. "Good luck with your training."

"You too." He replied. He felt stupid for it. Why would she need more training. Even after all his training, he was still nowhere near her level.

Ash and his team were sitting in the cafeteria. It was as crowded as one would expect. He had been learning the structure of this school over the last few weeks. Fourth years rarely spent much time around the campus and would spend plenty of free time out on the grounds or in the city itself. Third years commanded a lot of respect from the first years and seemed the most eager to help out around the school. Fourth years seem like they can't wait to graduate. Second years seem to be on the fence, they are like first years except more confident. He was still wondering if he'd make it that long.

"Can you believe it?" Lyra squeaked. She was pointing across the cafeteria, Cardin was making a scene bothering a faunus girl. "Nobody even tries to stop him, a school full of warriors and not one of them can stand up to a bully.

"Don't take it personally." Morgana shrugged. "People like Cardin exist everywhere, most of these students just want to get on with their day. It's a lot of hassle to piss off a bully for the sake of a stranger."

"Yeah, imagine having to deal with Cardin hating you for four years." Ash agreed. He paused for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Oh wait!"

"I don't get it." Billy replied sheepishly.

"I think I lost my appetite." Lyra said. She dropped her fork and left. Billy started eating the food off her plate.

Ash and Billy were wandering the grounds. Lyra wanted to be left alone and Morgana seemed to vanish. Ash slouched down against a tree, Billy sat next to him. It was a rather hot day. Billy looked like he was trying to stop himself from sneezing, trying and failing. He let out a loud and violent sneeze, which emitted an impressive fireball. Ash rolled out of the way and the ground in front of Billy caught fire. Billy covered his nose, his face was red.

"What the hell was that?" Ash asked. He desperately tried to smother the grassfire. Billy fumbled around for a bit but they managed to put it out.

"That happens sometimes." Billy shrugged. He was acting like breathing fire is a normal thing.

"How did you do that?" Ash asked. Billy thought about it for a minute.

"When I was a kid, my friend Ricky dared me to snort dust." Billy replied. Ash blinked in amazement. Billy gave a shrug. "Not all of it came out, sometimes it comes out when I sneeze."

"Ricky's a prick" Ash said. He may have just figured out why Billy is the way he is. He's never heard of anyone snorting dust before, or at least surviving the experience. The fact Billy isn't a gibbering mess tells wonders about him.

"It's alright." Billy said with a big smile. "I always feel a lot better after I sneeze. Things get a lot clearer."

"Really?" Ash asked.

"Momma says I should try to sneeze more often but I like to wait until it comes naturally." He said with a big smile. He sneezed yet again and a tiny lightning bolt shot out of his left nostril. "It comes in different flavours."


	7. Chapter 7 - Forever Fall

Chapter 7. Forever Fall.

Forever Fall, the crimson foliage gave it an almost foreboding visage. The sun was high in the sky and the distant howls kept him on his toes. Glynda led the group along the ruddy trail. Their goal was to collect syrup from the trees, it seemed way to simple. Collecting tree sap didn't sound remotely psychotic, Ash was starting to doubt that was the actual objective. The groups split up, Glynda seemed to be keeping a close eye on team ALBM in particular.

"Why are we collecting tree sap, I thought this was a school for warriors?" Ash asked, his bottle was almost full. Billy shrugged but happily filled his bottle, he looked like he's done this before. "Is this supposed to be survival training? Watch out class, you might end up trapped in a forest and your only hope for survival will be your ability to bottle tree sap for sustenance."

"I don't think that's why we're here." Lyra squeaked. "I mean, I think the schools out of syrup for all the pancakes we've been eating."

"So this is just some sort of fetch job?" Ash asked. If that was the case then he had to give them credit, it was a pretty clever way to get the students to do all the work. "This is just what I imagined the noble life of a huntsman would be! On my knees tapping a tree!"

"Less chatter ALBM." Glynda said sternly. "Focus on the task at hand."

"Back to work." Ash said with a robotic gesture. He started thinking of unpleasant words that rhymed with Goodwitch.

"URSA!" A student shouted as he sprinted by, several other students came running straight for Glynda, they were all shouting the same thing. "Big ursa! Attacked Cardin!"

"Good!" Ashton shouted, he didn't mean to say that aloud. Glynda gave him a glare.

"Mr Gray will be cleaning Professor Port's classroom tonight, I'll go deal with the ursa." She said, pushing her glasses up. She left with the rest of the students.

"Was that worth it?" Morgana asked. Ash smiled at her, she turned her head with a scoff.

"It was absolutely worth it." Ash said with a sly grin. "Hopefully Cardin will get his ass kicked before Glynda get's there. He could use a nice reality check to the keister."

"This better be enough syrup." Morgana said. She leaned against the tree and put the syrup on their small mountain of jars. Ash was starting to think Glynda was just screwing with them. Why would they need four dozen jars full.

"I think my arms just died." Lyra squeaked, she curled up in a ball under her tree. "Why are we even here?"

"This syrup is mighty tasty." Billy said happily licking his fingers. Everyone snapped their heads at him in unison.

"Don't eat the syrup Billy!" Ash shouted. Billy winced.

"Why is it poison?" Billy asked, a horrified look spread across his face.

"No, I just don't want to be here all day refilling any of those jars." Ash replied. He slumped further against his tree.

Ash took a deep breath. The day felt like it was taking forever, just one of those mornings where time slows to a halt. He adjusted himself, sliding into the comfier position. His eyes scanned the clearing, he could make out another team across. His heart wrenched, there she was again. The mystery girl with the healing kiss. He watched her, she was kneeling next to a bottle of syrup, umbrella over her shoulder. She had her nose brushing against a flower, taking in the scent. He started to smile. He couldn't help it.

He could make out the rest of her team, sort of. There was a man with heavy looking green armor but with a long pale green robe coming out from under it. His helmet had a bulky looking front piece but it was currently open, the helmet itself had large stag antlers sticking out. He wasn't sure if he was a faunus or if it was decorative. His face was hidden behind messy hair and he was already growing quite the beard, though it was messy and various twigs and leaves were caught in it. He was resting almost in a meditative trance against a tree.

Walking behind said tree was a giant of a man. As big as Billy, maybe taller. His skin was pale, almost as much as Weiss. His head was completely bald and his eyes seemed to glow a yellowish hue. His jaw was as square as it gets and it looked like he had tusks growing from his mouth. He wore a heavy fur coat, solid black. He had a massive mace swung across his shoulder, it was round and covered in holes.

The last member of her team approached the giant. She was tall with stark white skin with white hair, she looked like she was made of soft snow. Her eyes were violet. She wore an elegant fur coat which gave her a look of wealth. She had a fur cap resting like a crown on her white hair. She held her hand up to the bald giant and carefully brushed his face. He wasn't sure if the giant was smiling or not, the tusks made it hard to tell.

Suffice to say, the team looked competent. Especially compared to his own team. He nervously glanced over to Billy and Lyra. Even after all their training, they weren't getting much better. He swallowed uncomfortably, he could feel doubt gnawing on the back of his mind. He tried to relax. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. It was then he noticed heavy breathing on his shoulder. He slowly turned his head, soon finding himself face to face with a beowolf. His hand slowly reached for Silver Faust. He smiled meekly. It bared it's fangs.

He swung Silver Faust upwards, a quick shot into it's chest. He rotated his body and leaned back, the beast missed his face by inches. He continued firing. Blood spurted from it's chest but it dropped like a rock. He let out a laugh. He turned his head and saw a dozen more staring at him. He let out a sigh. The beast lunged. Billy intercepted. He rammed right through them full speed knocking them out of the way. He started spinning his blade screaming. Ash quickly reloaded.

Black bolts sent a beowolf flying. Ash leapt to his feet and opened fire. Lyra raised her flute into a standby position. Ash continued firing into the crowd. A beowolf lunged from his left, he couldn't react fast enough and found himself colliding with the ground, barely holding the beast's maw from his throat. Blood splattered across his face, the beast dropped dead with a saw blade stuck in it's skull. The man in the green armor leapt over the corpse, grabbing the saw blade and attaching it to the end of a gnarly looking staff. He proceeded to cleave a beowulf in half with it, swinging it like an axe.

The beowolf was lifted off of him by the giant with one hand, who tossed it effortlessly. A beowulf tried to sneak up on him, lunging from his side. The giant swung his mace, spikes slid out of the holes. It splattered the beowolf. Wolves closed in from all sides. He raised the mace up into the air, dropping to a knee and clicked a button. There was a loud blast and the spikes shot out like shrapnel from a grenade, peppering the wolves. A massive beowolf, much like the one before, stormed into the clearing. It was quickly covered in black glyphs. It was immediately after covered in white glyphs, it was starting to resemble a pincushion. The black glyphs exploded in shadowy clouds, the white exploding into snow. The beast staggered back, a giant spear of ice plunged into it's chest. The beast dropped like a rock, face first into the ground. The ice shatter immediately. The giant smashed it's skull with his mace.

Ash pulled himself to his feet, he loaded burn dust rounds into Silver Faust and searched for a target. A beowolf leapt from the bushes, grabbing hold of the giant's back, taking a bite of his neck. The giant screamed in rage, his skin turned deep blue, his eyes glowed yellow. Ge swung around, the beowolf had icicles growing from it's body, it seemed frozen solid. Ash took the shot. The fire round blew the beast apart into tiny frozen giblets. The giant grasped at his neck and seemed to give him a thumbs up. The girl in the rose dressed approached the giant and gave him a kiss on the cheek, the bloody wound seemed to vanish from him. His skin turned back into it's normal white.

Ash scanned the clearing, the other team had wiped the floor out of the beowolves, Billy was lifting a particularly large beowolf off Lyra. Morgana was casually chatting with the albino girl in fur. The girl in the rose dress approached him, spinning her umbrella casually. She smiled at him, he felt a little weak at the knees.

"Are you okay?" She asked, she reached her hand out. She put it on his shoulder, he felt a little hot. "That beowolf didn't get you?"

"No, I'm fine." He said, he didn't want to look helpless. He then cursed inside his head, if he said the opposite she might have kissed him. He resisted the urge to smack himself in the head. "Your team seemed to handle themselves pretty well."

"Yes, we make a pretty effective team." She said with a smile, she removed her arm. The hint of concern in her voice lifted. Damn. "I don't think we were properly introduced."

"Oh right, where are my manners!" Ash blurted out. He thought back to his childhood, back to all those etiquette courses he had to take. Seemed like they were wasted. "I'm Ashton, Ashton Grey."

"I'm Gwyn, Gwyn Rhosyn." She said smiling, her eyes seemed to glow a vibrant green.

"Oh right, my team." He said, carefully trying to keep his voice from shaking. "Team ALBM, Lyra is the tiny girl over there. Billy is the big guy. Morgana is the dark haired girl. We're sort of a work in progress."

"Well, this is team GNKO!" She said, with a slight curtsy. "You've met me, that's Natasha in the fur. Kol is bald one. The guy with the beard is my brother Orin."

"What is going on here?" A voice cried out behind them, they both jumped and found Glynda standing with the rest of the students. Cardin was covered in syrup for some reason.

"Some beowolves wanted to hang out." Ash blurted out. "But they didn't really mesh well with us. I feel as if we just hit a language barrier and with the right..."

"Mr Gray." Glynda interrupted. "You may stop talking now."

"Will do!" Ash replied with a salute. She scowled.

"Well, it was good of team GNKO to help some of our, less able, students." She said with a smirk. Ash felt his hands tightening. Gwyn put her hand on his shoulder. He relaxed in an instant.

"I think team ALBM performed admirably." She said confidently. Glynda raised an eyebrow. "Ashton here even saved one of my teammates, shot a beowolf off his back."

"I think it is quite humble of you, Miss Rhosyn." Glynda replied. "Especially to pass credit onto others less deserving."

Unbelievable, Ashton thought bitterly. She just couldn't give him a compliment. Judging by the smug look on her face, even Gwyn's praise didn't change her view on him in the slightest. She beckoned them to follow her and led them along the forest trail, back to the school.


	8. Chapter 8 - Accidental Discoveries

Chapter 8. Accidental Discoveries.

Ashton parried his opponents weapon, a silver tiger claw. It had been a week since the Forever Fall expedition and combat trials were becoming increasingly frequent. His opponent was one of the more exotic fighters. His caramel tan gave wind of warmer climates and his claw fighting style definitely felt foreign. In fact he wasn't quite sure where this fighter was from. The fighter had shoulder length black hair but the bangs seemed much longer. His orange vest was open, he didn't really wear anything underneath that. His violet shorts seemed to contrast with the rest of his look. He might have been from Vacuo.

He continued to swing aggressively at him. Ashton parried, the man simply swung his other claw low. Ash hopped backwards, barely dodging. His opponent continued to fight in this pattern, high strikes followed by lows. Occasionally switching which arm swung where. Ash was getting a little better at blocking them, they were a little too predictable. He saw an opening, if he can block on of his attacks he can get a punch in. His opponent swung high, Ash parried. He punched his opponent square in the chest. He felt pain, as if he broke his hand.

The opponent chest glistened like a diamond before fading back to normal. He staggered back and continued to parry the onslaught one handed. He felt himself dropping to a knee, barely blocking the constant barrage. His hand burned and he felt his head going dizzy. He figured he'll just wait for Glynda to end the fight. He leaned back. His vision continued to blur until he felt himself flipping into the air and slamming against the ground. His opponent raised his claws. Ash stared him straight in the eyes. The man started panicking. He started swinging his claws at invisible opponents. His expression was that of absolute terror. The man continued swinging frantically. Glynda stepped close to him and started yelling.

"Snap out of it!" She shouted, the student continued to panic. He turned around and ran head first into a wall. His skull glittered like a diamond and his head passed straight through, he continued panicking and punching at the wall. Several older students rushed in and pulled him out of the wall and held him down. He continued to try to fight something that wasn't there, the students were struggling. Lyra started playing her music. He overpowered the tired students and jumped to his feet. He slowed considerably, one of the older students punched him straight in the jaw, knocking him down. Glynda turned to Ash, fuming.

"What did you do?" She screamed. Ash swallowed hard. She stepped right up to him, eyes staring him ruthlessly.

"I don't know, he won and..." Ash tried to explain. She glared at him. For a second he thought she was going to slap him.

"Ozpin's office! Now!" She screamed. Ash winced and backed up slowly. His heart was racing in his throat and his body felt light. He nervously walked out of the class. He had no idea what just happened.

He breathed heavily, Ozpin's office wasn't too far and he reached the door faster than he expected. He knocked on the door cautiously. He had no idea what he'd expect to find. The door opened and Ozpin stepped out, shutting the door before Ash could get a look. Ozpin looked at him with a slight smile. He felt like he was about to get scolded but now he was unsure.

"Ashton, Glynda tells me you may have hurt another student?" He said, eyes carefully studying Ash's very being.

"I don't know what happened." Ash blurted out, he was getting pretty anxious. "One minute I'm on the ground, next the kid is running and screaming. Tearing apart the walls."

"You may not realize it, but I believe you might have discovered part of your semblance." Ozpin said. His eyes continued to study Ash for reactions. "It seems you might be more dangerous than even the jail wardens believed."

"What does that mean?" Ash asked. More dangerous, he was starting to get worried about where this conversation was heading.

"It means, with the proper training, you might become one hell of a huntsman." Ozpin said, he was beaming. Ash blinked repeatedly, he really didn't expect that.

"You aren't mad?" Ashton asked. "What about the other student?"

"He'll be fine, this school is a fairly dangerous place and where he's from, it's no different." Ozpin said calmly. "He will think twice before facing you in battle. That is something many fighters aspire."

"I don't even understand my semblance." Ash anxiously replied. "It just happened."

"Semblance comes from instinct. It is the very manifestation of who you are, exposed by danger." Ozpin said with a nod. "You will learn to understand it and control it. The first time is always a complicated affair. It could even take years before you understand even the basics of it. You'll grow better. You should run along back to your team."

"What about Glynda, she seemed pretty angry with me." Ashton asked. Ozpin smiled more.

"Glynda will be fine, I'll talk with her about my decision." Ozpin replied. He patted Ash on the shoulder and stepped back into his office. The door slammed shut.

"So your semblance sent him into a screaming fit?" Morgana asked. Ash was sitting on his bed, slumped against the wall. His mind had been racing on the mornings surprise. She sat on the dresser near her bed, kicking her legs playfully. "Seems pretty useful."

"I don't know, I don't like that I can't control it." Ash said pensively. He gave a half shrug. She smirked.

"Then you just need practice." She said, he was getting a little worried just by her tone alone.

"How would I practice it, I'd need to use it on someone." Ash contemplated. She had a wider grin. He wasn't sure if he should be worried or excited.

"You have plenty of enemies so far, plenty of targets." She continued to smile, it was a devilish grin. Plenty of targets. She might have had a point.

"Well there's Cardin and his lackeys, and there is always Weiss." Ash pondered. Cardin's gang would be fun to mess around with, Weiss would be perfect, though she seems the type that would run to Glynda.

"Why not both?" She asked nonchalantly. He paused. A smile grew across his face. The next thing he knew, they were running out the door.

They found Cardin and his team lounging out by the forest edge. They were sparring with one another. Perfect targets. Now came the flaw in the plan. Ash didn't know how to use his semblance, last time it was a fluke.

"Alright, what do I do?" Ash asked. Morgana looked confused. "I've never intentionally done it before."

"Well it's different with everyone. Usually you just get really emotional." She answered. He hesitated.

"Emotional?" He asked. "What do you mean emotional?"

"You know, get mad, get sad, get over excited." She replied. He scratched his head. "By all means, do something. Don't scratch your head, our window is fading."

"Alright." He said. Get mad, get mad. He thought of things that brought him anger. He remembered Cardin's ambush in the locker room. He remembered encountering Weiss. He remembered getting ambushed at the warehouse. The family yacht getting repossessed, the manor falling into disrepair, his sparring sessions with his father becoming less and less frequent until they stopped altogether. He was mad, he was fuming, he wasn't doing it. "This isn't working."

"If only we knew what your semblance did." She pondered aloud. "Maybe if we found out exactly what happened to that guy, what made him scream, we could find out how to tap into your power."

"I imagine I'm the last guy he wants to see." Ash pointed out. She pursed her lips, eyes darting from side to side.

"We'll just have to take that risk." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to the nearest door.

They headed to the medical wing, resting near a window was the kid from earlier. His experience apparently was bad enough they wanted to keep him overnight. Whatever happened was more serious than Ozpin let him believe. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of him but after a couple of deep breaths he seemed to relax.

"Hey, so I feel bad about earlier." Ash opened. "I'm Ash, by the way. This is Morgana"

"Leon." He replied. He scratched his head nervously. "Don't worry about earlier, just got me by surprise."

"I honestly don't know what happened." Ash said with a shrug. "Ozpin told me that I used my semblance but I've never done anything like that before."

"That was your first time?" Leon asked. He bobbed his head slightly. "That would make sense."

"So I'm supposed to learn how to control it, I don't even know what I did. So how can I learn to use something I don't understand." Ash asked. Leon stared for a moment, he tensed up.

"Alright well, all I remember was me kicking your ass." Leon began, Ash tried to interrupt him but Morgana shushed him. "Next thing I know I'm hallucinating or something. I saw my father."

"That's it?" Ash asked. He saw his father and started screaming. He made him see his father?

"Well, my father had been dead for six years. Ripped apart by an beowolves. I witnessed it. I witnessed it again this morning." Leon spoke a lot quieter. Sound seemed to drain from the room. Ash coughed uncomfortably. "I remember them jumping on me, I couldn't get them off. Then my semblance kicked in. Too little too late."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Ash said, scratching his head.

"So what you're saying is he forced you to relive your worst nightmare?" Morgana asked. "How is that possible?"

"I don't really think so, it wasn't like a nightmare. It was like it was around me, but I was still here. Like wolves somehow got into the school." Leon said with a shrug. "I don't know, I just happened to be on the receiving end."

"What are you doing here?" An unpleasant voice called out from behind them. Glynda. "Haven't you caused this student enough duress for the evening."

"I was trying to apologize." Ash replied. She glared at him.

"Back to your dorm! You too miss!" She snapped. Leon gave them a confused nod. They were escorted out of the medical wing and back to their dorm.

So he made someone relive a nightmare, in the middle of a fight. Was it limited to nightmares, was it hallucination itself that was his semblance. Could he make someone hallucinate anything? He had a mountain of questions forming, not enough answers.

"So, you make people hallucinate things, did you remember doing anything during the fight?" Morgana asked. Ash scratched his head, replaying the fight in his head.

"I was on the ground, I panicked, I looked him in the eyes." He explained. She skipped in front of him. "What?'

"That's it, eye contact." She said enthusiastically. "You need to maintain eye contact. Now we just need a practice target."

"I'd rather not start up a hornets nest over practice, let's save Cardin and Weiss for when I know I can do it." Ash said, sitting down on a windowsill. "If I start a fight with Cardin and his friends and can't do it, I get ganged up on."

"Alright, you can practice on me!" She said, a big smile on her face. He scratched his head.

"You want me to use my nightmare powers on you?" He asked. If the roles were reversed, he wouldn't let her anywhere near him. "Why?"

"Because, unless we can find out how to use this, you're sort of the weak link in our team." She replied bluntly. He coughed.

"Weak link? Even weaker than Lyra?" He asked. She rolled her eyes.

"She might not be able to fight but she at least can use her semblance right." She said, sharply prodding his sides with her finger. "Now I need you to use your semblance."

"Alright fine, one panic attack coming up!" He stared her directly in the eyes. He focused on pain, misery, anger, fear. It wasn't working.

She raised her eyebrows. He continued to try to tap into something. His mind went back to that fight. Leon was winning, what did he do? He remembered losing, he was facing defeat. Perhaps that was it, fear of defeat. He wasn't sure how to replicate those feelings when they were casually standing in a hallway. She had this smug look on her face, he knew she was laughing at him in her head. He must have looked pretty stupid. Then again, how would she look if he was to succeed at this. He felt himself smiling, the look on her face would be priceless.

She stepped back, he raised an eyebrow. The next thing he knew, she was stumbling over. Panic had spread across her face, he could see her eyes watering. She stared up, not at him but at a vase to his left. Tears were beginning to streak down the sides of her face and suddenly she was bolting down the hallway. He looked around the room. He figured it worked.

He found her back at the dorm room, she was lying in bed with her back to him. He sat down at the foot of her bed and let out a sigh. He wasn't sure what he did or how he did it.

"I'm fine." She said quietly. He could hear a quiver in her voice. She didn't sound fine.

"Did it work?" Ash asked. She rolled over. Her face was red and puffy. She was glaring at him.

"It worked." She said, rolling over again. He turned away.

"I'm sorry." He replied. His mind was busy trying to figure out how he did it. What did he do. None of this made any sense. He looked back at her, he felt a pang of guilt. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me." She replied. "I just saw some things I didn't want to see."

"How am I supposed to control this?" Ash asked, he collapsed onto his own bed. The sun was setting and his eyelids grew heavy. He wished he had an answer.


	9. Chapter 9 - ALGT in Shining Darkness

Chapter 9. ALGT in shining darkness. 

Ash was sitting alone in the school's library. He was thinking over the day before. His power makes people see things they don't want to see. What if he was thinking too narrow. What if his power wasn't about seeing horrible things, but just seeing. Even if that's the case, how do you train this? It just didn't make sense. He skimmed through a couple books on the subject, they weren't particularly clear. All they explained is that it usually is catalyzed by emotion. Some channel semblance through rage, some through serenity, some through boredom. His so far seems to be panic, then again the books say that's how it starts. How the hell did Morgana discover her glyphs. He stretched his legs out to get comfortable. As soon as he did he felt someone collide with them.

"You dolt!" Just who he wanted to see, his morning was missing a splash of Weiss. She picked herself up from the floor and straightened her skirt. The look on her face was pretty hilarious in it's own right, half embarrassed, half angry. "You did that on purpose!"

"I assure you princess, I was merely stretching my legs." Ash replied with a shrug. She scoffed and kicked him in the leg. "Hey what the hell was that for?"

"You tripped me, you should apologize." Weiss said stomping her feet.

"Sure, when you apologize for kicking me." Ash replied, he raised his book.

"What?" She scoffed. She lowered his book and met his gaze. "I apologize to you? I don't think so."

"Right, good talk." Ash said returning to his book. She started swinging her arms around in a huff. Why didn't he think of this sooner, ignoring her is way more fun than confronting her.

"You will look me in the eyes this minute!" She stomped her feet in a huff. He shrugged and met her gaze. The staring contest lasted several minutes. There was an odd twitch in her eyes, she suddenly turned her head in panic. Her mouth started to move, as if she was whispering. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ash asked. She kept staring towards a door.

"N-nothing." She said backing away, she spun around and hurried off.

He watched, confused, as she scampered out a side door. It took him a moment to realize, semblance. It wasn't about his fear or sorrow or anger. It was about knocking people down a few pegs, proving himself. It was about confidence, pride, humility. He needed guinea pigs. Preferably people he hates. It's a shame Weiss left.

Ash hurried through the hallways searching, he knew they'd be around here somewhere. He turned a corner and found Cardin and his group lounging by a window. He took a deep breath and stormed towards them. Cardin noticed him coming and signaled his team, they carefully reached for their weapons.

"Hey, if it isn't Gray!" Cardin shouted.

"Can't talk!" Ash said staring him straight in the eyes. Think. . Imagine the look on his face if... "Professor Ozpin!"

They turned around in surprise, Cardin smacked his nearest teammate and they hide their weapons in a not so subtle panic. They were staring at an empty hallway.

"Professor Ozpin!" Cardin shouted. He was stammering pretty badly. "How may I help you sir?"

You can help me by cleaning up Professor Port's office, the Boarbatusk had an accident, Ash thought to himself, chuckling as he did. They started panicking and wiping their foreheads.

"Yes sir, right away!" They hurried off in a panic past the non existent professor. Ash started laughing.

"That was pretty funny." Came the all too familiar voice of Professor Ozpin. Right behind him.

"Professor, didn't see you there." Ash said, spinning around with the biggest smile he could force. Ozpin studied him carefully.

"So, you were able to make them see me in that empty hallway?" Ozpin asked, he took another sip of his coffee. "That is pretty interesting, what else can you do?"

"I'm still figuring that out. I can involuntarily make people see things they don't want to see." Ash explained, Ozpin's eyes looked like they were staring into his soul. "Now I can make people see things in general, also hear things, didn't expect that."

"Now the question is, will this help you become a better hunter, or a better criminal?" Ozpin asked. Ash felt a little taken aback. Then again, he did just trick some people he hates into doing menial tasks for fun. Imagine how much money he could make with such a skill.

"Ye of little faith." Ash said with a nervous chuckle. Ozpin seemed to get the answer he wanted and strolled off without a word. Ash scratched his neck.

Ash felt a sort of pride in his new abilities. He sat in a courtyard playing around with this power to varying degrees of effect. He had Nora chase something around in circles like a dog chasing it's tail. Eventually her friend Ren came and snapped her out of it, she seemed fairly disappointed he broke the illusion. He had Cardin running laps around the grounds, it was fairly entertaining. He even had Weiss get into an argument with no one at all, passers by kept giving her odd looks. Suffice to say, he found quite a lot of enjoyment in his power, especially since few actually knew about it.

He was getting better at activating it, he needed to concentrate on the person and imagine what he wanted them to see, sometimes it wouldn't come out the way he wanted or he wouldn't be able to picture it. He couldn't figure out who Weiss was arguing with or what Nora was chasing, he did know Cardin was doing laps for an angry Professor Port. He also didn't have to get very close and he was certain it would only be a matter of time before he overcame the eye contact limitation. Or at least he hoped so. Getting eye contact long distance is pretty tricky.

"Nice day?" Gabriel asked, slouching next to him. He had his usual swagger about him. He noticed Weiss yelling at a potted plant. "Who's she yelling at?"

"Nobody." Ash shrugged. It was funnier this way anyways.

"So, did you see that girl again?" Gabriel asked. Straight to the point.

"Gwyn?" Ash asked, Gabriel mouthed her name in an almost of course kind of way. "She saved my ass again in Forever Fall."

"Beauty and a fighter?" Gabriel asked. Ash shrugged. "I have got to find that girl, I've looked everywhere."

Ash turned around, he hardly noticed Toreth was standing behind them, staring vigilantly at the belligerent Weiss. Ash looked back to see Weiss storming away in a huff. He chuckled.

"Toreth, didn't see you back there." Ash said turning back, Toreth shrugged."

"Rudd doesn't speak much." Gabriel said, patting Rudd on the shoulder. He smacked his arm away. Rudd then pointed. "Oh great it's Lancel."

"Lancel?" Ash asked. He turned back. There was a man with fairly feminine features. He had long wavy locks of chocolate brown hair, going down to his shoulders. He was wearing a shining silver breastplate over a flashy lavender shirt. His left arm was heavily armored with plating all the way down, his right was uncovered.

"He's on our team, kind of a prat." Gabriel explained. Toreth made an almost growl sound. "A year with the prick and he still hasn't pulled that stick out of his..."

"I got an idea." Ash said, he focused on Lancel, waiting for eye contact. He wasn't sure who or what Lancel was seeing but he suddenly was rolling around as if dodging invisible attacks. Gabriel laughed uproariously.

"How did you do that?" Gabriel asked, trying to hold back tears.

"I've been practicing." Ash replied. Lancel seemed to stop the minute he saw them laughing. He hurried towards them.

"What the hell was that?" Lancel asked, he had a bit of a prissy accent to his voice. The kind you expect to hear at a formal gathering. "I'm sick of your pranks Gabriel."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gabriel answered giggling like a little girl. Toreth was vibrating as if he was silently laughing.

"I'm going to tell Arthur about this." Lancel said with a stomp of his feet. Gabriel continued to laugh.

"Tell Arthur what?" Came a stern voice behind Lancel, Gabriel stopped chuckling.

The newcomer wasn't as tall as Gabriel but stood around Lancel's height. He had short orange hair with a slight chinstrip. He had bushy orange eyebrows arching over his green eyes. He wore a breastplate of blinding gold that always seemed to catch the light, over it he wore a white coat which reached his boots. He had a massive golden sword slung loosely over his shoulder. Ash figured that this man was Arthur, he also assumed he was their team leader.

"Nothing Arthur, just more pranks." Lancel said with a shrug.

"Gabriel, do you need to harass Lancel at his every turn?" Arthur asked. "You're a second year, you're better than this."

"Sorry man." Gabriel shrugged. "Just finding a bit of fun where I can."

"Toreth, why do you follow him around?" Arthur asked. Toreth shrugged. He turned his gaze to Gabriel. "He keeps following you and you're going to rub off on him."

"Hey, what's wrong with that?" Gabriel asked.

"Do you remember the time you got him to throw flaming paper airplanes at Glynda's window?" Arthur asked. Gabriel pondered for a moment.

"I still don't see what's wrong with that." Gabriel said before breaking out into more laughs.

"Who's he?" Arthur asked, finally taking notice of Ash.

"A friend, Ash meet Arthur, Arthur meet Ash." Gabriel gave a slight bow as he introduced him.

"Well, pleasure to meet..." Arthur began, his eyes trailed off. Ash followed them to their target, walking across the courtyard was Morgana. She was clutching a few books as if they were going to fly away at any moment. Arthur suddenly hopped up into the air and raised his arms in the air triumphantly. "MORGY!" He shouted, she froze midstep and turned her head slowly. She looked from Arthur to Ash, she looked absolutely mortified. She raised her hand as if to block them from her view and kept walking like that until she was out of sight.

"I take it you two know each other?" Ash asked. He wasn't sure what to expect at this point.

"Of course I know Morgy." Arthur replied with the biggest smile. "She's my baby sister!"


	10. Chapter 10 - Yesterday and Tomorrow

Chapter 10. Yesterday's Mistakes and Tomorrow's Plans.

The Vytal Festival was on the horizon. The city was bustling with life, travelers from other kingdoms could be seen wandering the streets. The Vytal festival wouldn't begin for several months, but that hasn't stopped the tourists from showing up to save their seats for the combat tournament. Ash wasn't sure if he wanted to partake. He wasn't a tournament kind of guy.

He sat in a small coffee shop. Lyra sat across from him, sipping her third cup of coffee. She was slightly jittery. Her ragged hood was tightly covering her head. He had to admit, this was the first time it's been just the two of them since the forest and he wasn't quite sure what to say. They were supposed to be partners now, even if they were already in a team.

"So." Ash finally said. The silence was broken for a moment but the uncomfortable quiet didn't take long to reform. He scratched his head nervously. "The Vytal Festival is going to be here soon."

"Yes, that should be interesting to see." Lyra murmured. Ash looked down at his cup for a moment.

"You ever go there?" Ash asked. He wasn't sure why this was such an awkward conversation. They share a room, they spend every day training, eating, and studying together. Why couldn't they drink coffee.

"I never went, I was never welcome." She murmured. Her eyes were locked on her coffee cup. He could tell this conversation was getting a little personal for her.

"Well, we could go there to watch it." Ash suggested. He felt he needed to keep talking. "If you want, it's an option."

"Sure." She replied. She downed her entire cup of coffee, she signaled a waiter for a refill. "That could be fun."

"We could always compete." Ash pretty much threw that one out there, she looked up at him, eyes wide with surprise.

"Compete?" She asked. "Are you kidding? We'd lose! Even with all the training we've gone through these last few weeks, we're nowhere close to ready for that."

"True, but the tournament is in a few months. We'd have plenty more training by then." Ash said. She wasn't wrong however, the tournament would bring the greatest from across Vytal. The last thing they'd want is to lose in front of the entire world. "You have a point though."

"Exactly. Off the table." She said chugging her refill.

"Exactly. Off the table." Ash repeated. He smiled slightly. "Well at least until you get used to your new weapon."

"New weapon?" Lyra squeaked. She covered her mouth and put her cup down. "What do you mean new weapon?"

"Every huntress needs a good weapon, last I checked you were carrying a musical instrument." Ash said reaching into his coat. He pulled out a wad of cash. "Let's find you a real weapon."

"Where did you get the cash?" She asked. Her eyes were transfixed on the money. It was as if she had never seen so much. Sadly that might be the case, even worse, it wasn't that much money.

"I know a guy who sucks at cards and we made some friendly wagers." Ash smiled. Thank you Prince. "So, let's get started."

There was a weapon shop off the harbor. The store was filled with your standard issue swords and guns, your more advanced combination weapons and a few custom rigs. This store was well loved by many of the students at Beacon as they sell individual parts, for cheap too.

"Well, what will you use?" Ash asked. Lyra simply stared in awe. "Let's make something custom."

They picked various pieces for the next hour or so. She seemed to have something in mind, even if she wasn't quite sure what it was. They moved to a backroom to assemble the weapon. Ash wasn't quite sure what to make of it, it was a quarterstaff with cattle prods at either end, with rope dart launchers on each end. The rope darts were connected via a steel cable which allowed them to function as rather terrifying stun gun. The entire weapon could fold into a small double headed baton.

Test firing it worked fairly well, it wasn't quite a lethal weapon but it could incapacitate a person, perhaps even a beowolf. It also was simple enough that modifications could easily be attached in the future. She practiced swinging the weapon around, sparks occasionally shot out of it as she did.

"I like it." She said vibrating. "I can really feel it."

"You look like you still are." Ash observed. She was vibrating from head to toe. She started laughing.

"I think that's just the caffeine." She said shaking her jittery head.

"So what are you going to call this thing?" Ash asked. She stared at it for a moment.

"I think I'll call it Maibaum" She said smiling.

"Alright, well let's pay for this thing and go." He said. Hopefully now their team has a chance. Then again, a new weapon isn't much use without proper training. "We should find a quiet place."

"Why?" She asked.

"I doubt Beowolves are going to play the part of a practice dummy." He said. She looked nervous. "We're going to spar, it'll be fun."

They found a nice quiet area in a nearby park. He let her get a few practice swings around with her weapon, he folded Silver Faust out and twirled it around. He gave her a nod when he was ready. She spun the weapon around enthusiastically and lunged at him. He swatted the weapon out of her hand effortlessly.

"Try again." He said. He desperately tried to contain his smirk. He didn't want to discourage her.

She twirled it around again and tried an impressive flip attack. He sidestepped out of the way and she crashed into the grass. He helped her back to her feet. She frowned.

"Try again." He said. She tugged on her hood and stumbled back.

She examined her weapon for a bit, taking in every detail. Ash readied himself. She was planning something. She retracted her weapon into it's compact baton form and lunged at him. She swung it at him, he quickly parried. She tapped a button and it expanded into full length, he barely moved his head in time. She swung the other end violently, shifting all the weight he had against her the other way. She almost got him. He hopped back to his feet.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Ash said enthusiastically. Lyra beamed. "Keep that up and we might actually qualify for that tournament."

"You really think so?" She asked.

"I said qualify, if you want to win we need to keep training." Ash said.

They sparred for a few more hours. Eventually they decided to call it a day. They had a rather leisurely stroll as the sun began to set. The smell of dead fish began to fade, the harbor had long since disappeared out of sight behind the many buildings. A cool breeze blew down the rapidly emptying streets. They would have to head back to Beacon soon. Surely Glynda would find some excuse to punish them for coming back late.

From the shadows of an alley a hand outstretched, it made a beckoning gesture. A hood poked into the light. Under it, a detailed mask. He turned to Lyra and back to the hooded figure.

"Lyra, I think I left something at the shop. You go on ahead, I'll catch up." Ash said patting his pockets. She looked a bit surprised.

"I can go with you." She said, Ash shook his head.

"No need, I won't be long." Ash said with probably the most fake smile he had ever worn.

"Alright, don't be late." She said. She quietly hurried down the street, looking over her shoulder frequently. He waved and turned around.

He waited until she was out of sight and then hurried toward the alley. He felt his hand gripping the handle of Silver Faust. He stepped off to the side and removed his jacket. He moved his holster from his chest to his waist. He put his coat back on and tussled his hair slightly. He felt an arm grab his shoulder and guide him through a backdoor. He was standing in a dingy kitchen, several hooded figures nodded at him as he passed them by. He was led through the kitchen doors into the restaurant. It was completely abandoned except for a single table, in which several hooded figures sat waiting, a single chair left empty. The figures gestured for him to sit, he had little choice.

"We have a target we need eliminated." The central figure said, his voice was gravelly and hoarse. "We are in need of your services."

"Listen, I don't mean to be rude here but I thought we were done." Ash said, the figures looked at each other, several groans and grunts were exchanged.

"No one leaves the White Fang." The voice came from the hooded figure to his left. He could faintly make out snarling fangs under the hood. "You swore your services to us."

"I swore my services until my company was no longer in debt." Ash replied. He could feel the tension in the room elevate. "Mission accomplished. I took the fall for your cause."

"You seem to be doing well for yourself, as is your company." The hooded figure on his right said politely. There were a pair of small antlers growing out of flaps in his hood. "Our cause is still a struggle, we are not fighting a war so easily overcome."

"Well, I can't help you. I'm attending Beacon and I wouldn't jeopardize my only chance of a future here." Ash explained. He heard angry exhales from several of the hooded figures. "I don't know if you got the memo, your war ended a long time ago."

"So says the human, you know nothing of the Faunus plight." The hood to his left spat. "You are nothing but a..."

"Silence." The central voice cried out. The others all bowed their heads. "I know that war better than you do. The battles may have finished but the war wages in the mind."

"So what good are swords in a war of the mind?" Ash asked. He could smell seafood faintly. Probably a sushi restaurant. His mind for some reason flashed to his semblance.

"Everything, nothing. The sword itself is but a tool. Aimed incorrectly it will cost us everything." The central hood said. His voice felt like it was cracking. "Aimed correctly, it could end our war before bloodshed returns."

"So by aiming correctly, what are you implying?" Ash asked. The hoods glanced at each other nervously.

"You are familiar with the Schnee dust company?" The central hood asked. He could hear the other hoods groan in disgust at the very mention of the name. He gave an agreeing nod.

"You know I do." Ash replied. He felt the hairs rising on the back of his neck.

"Hundreds if not thousands of faunus have suffered at their hands. We need to destroy that company." The voice to his left spat. "We need to destroy the man in charge."

"You want me to waltz into the Schnee Dust Company and assassinate Papa Schnee?" Ash asked bewildered. "I think you are overestimating my capabilities, greatly."

"We don't need to kill the 'Papa Schnee', only break him." The central hood said, sliding a picture across the table. "Do you know who this is?"

Ash spun the picture around and looked at it. He took a good long look, it took him a while for it to register. It was a picture of a dust shop, ransacked. Police tape was around it, two detectives were standing within. On the other side of the police tape, there were four girls. One was a young girl in a black dress and a red hood, another was a taller girl in a black vest, next to her was a tall girl of vibrant golden hair and the last was a pale girl in white. The last girl was Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. His brain almost snapped, it froze in place, his eyes staring down. Here it was, vengeance, handed to him on a silver platter.

He didn't want it. Not like this. Not planned in a shady restaurant with a bunch of terrorists he wants nothing to do with. Not with blood. Worst off, what about the others? Her team? Innocents. Maybe even worst than that, he wasn't even sure whether Weiss was innocent or not herself. A harpy in the ear sure, but whether she should be accountable for her father's decisions was still on the fence.

"I take it you are considering this well?" The central voice asked. There was a sort of softness in his coarse voice. It was almost like listening to a grandfather or great grandfather, listening to the comforting words of a man who's lived an entire lifetime of pain and suffering, knowing your life could be worse off.

"I don't know." Ash mumbled. He cleared his voice. "It's definitely tempting."

"The White Fang helped your family, on the verge of bankruptcy, survive." The central hood continued. "You paid a heavy price for this victory but we payed our debt. We always repay our loyal followers."

"What about the others?" Ash asked. The hoods looked back and forth, obviously confused. "The others in the picture, her team."

"No, they are under observation. One of them is a sister to the White Fang." The man replied. Ash looked back at the picture. One of those innocents was just another faunus terrorist. He shook his head.

"I can't do this. I'm not a killer. I hope you understand." Ash said, a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned to find three hooded figures aiming swords at his neck. The hooded men across the table were all standing. His hand gripped Silver Faust and cocked it quietly.

"Then you are nothing but a loose end." The hood on his left said smugly. "We don't like loose ends."

"You'd kill me over this?" Ash asked. They all started laughing. For a moment he wanted to laugh too.

"Kid, we'd kill you over a glass of milk if we thought it would help our people." The voice on his right replied. His options were slinking away little by little.

"I stand by what I said." Ash smiled. He motioned to Silver Faust, aimed straight up at the central hood. He seemed to be the local leader. "So, we're at a bit of an impass."

"You have a pair on you kid." Their leader said with a smile. "Is this supposed to be the ace up your sleeve? There are twelve of us in this room alone. You'd be dead after the first shot."

"But you seem like an important enough person, it'd be a shame if something were to happen to you." Ash smirked. The old man leaned forward.

"I thought you said you weren't a killer?" The old man said. He leaned even closer. "Let me tell you what happens to those who anger the white fang. They die, their friends die, their families die. Everything you know will burn until it's nothing but ash. You will lose everything and everyone you love will lose everything. Your company will fall to cinders."

Ash took a deep breath. He scanned the room, there were guns aimed from the shadowy corners. There were swords aimed at him from all sides. His confidence faded, his smile with it. He dies, his father dies, his company dies, his friends die. He didn't like those odds. One shot and he'd go out quietly in a sushi restaurant. The alternative would be to accept. Do this and save a lot of lives. He could hear the fanged hood snarling. He closed his eyes and let in another long breath.

"Fine, I'll do it. No matter what happens afterwords we're through." Ash said. He stood up, he felt the blades move away from his neck. The others bowed slightly.

"Excellent. We will inform you of when to strike, we'll wait until she's in the city." The central hood said. "It would be harder to cover our tracks in Beacon Academy."

"Can I go?" Ash asked. They looked back and forth for a moment.

"You may, but come when you are called." The central hood said with a bow. Ash immediately turned for the door. He could hear the man continuing to talk as he left. "You know the punishment for failure. So if you can't finish the job, do us a favor and turn yourself in willingly. We might show your family mercy. One time offer."

He had to kill Weiss Schnee. He may hate her, but he doesn't hate her that much. He buried his face in his palms. What was he going to do.


	11. Chapter 11 - Lady Trouble

Chapter 11. Lady Trouble.

He didn't eat breakfast that morning. Across the cafeteria he could see Weiss and her team, sans one member, bickering. He watched her quietly, his mind racing to the night before. The White Fang want her dead. He'd never killed anyone before. Threatened, broken a few limbs, sure he's had practice at that. Murder? Never. Unless you count the warehouse. He didn't want to remind himself. His stomach felt queasy, he hated Weiss Schnee, he hated her family. He didn't want to kill her. All he ever wanted was to win. To beat her fair and see the look on her face. Murder wouldn't solve anything. The White Fang would come for him if he refuses, they would come for his family, they would destroy everything he has sacrificed himself for. He didn't want to kill anyone. Now he had no choice.

The day sped by like a blur, he avoided his team as best he could. He was worried they might find out. Perhaps they would try to stop him. He couldn't allow that, no matter how much he wanted it. His father always said, make your bed and lay in it. He had to honor that. He slammed into someone hard. He was staring up a the ceiling. He gazed down and found a suit of red armor staring down at him.

"Sorry about that Rudd." Ash said climbing to his feet. Rudd shrugged.

He felt the sickening feeling return to him. His mind was drifting back to the night before. Rudd gave another shrug. Ash let out a long sigh.

"You ever have to do something you never wanted to do?" Ash asked. Rudd responded with a shrug. "I mean like, something you would never ever want to do in a million years?"

Rudd scratched his helmet for a moment. Ash could faintly see a glimmer off his eyes through the slit in his visor. He seemed to fade out a bit, as if he was trying to catch a distant memory. Then he shrugged.

"Good talk." Ash said in a sarcastic drawl.

He remembered sitting in his father's study. It was a day like any other, he was eight years old and the world was just beginning. His father smiled down to him. Even behind stacks of binders full of legal documents and business manifests, he still always had time. He stepped away from his desk and put his arm on Ash's shoulder. That kind of warmth was something he had almost forgotten.

"Why so glum?" His father asked, the smile alone made him feel amazing. The pit in his stomach refused to budge, however.

"I made a mistake, I don't know what to do." Ash responded, his childish voice felt painful to his ears. "I don't think I can fix it."

"There isn't a mistake in the world you can't fix Ash." His father responded. He patted him on the back. "It might be hard, it might take sacrifices, but there is nothing you can't overcome."

"How?" Ash asked. His father closed his eyes for a moment.

"You just have to own up to it." His father explained calmly. Ash nodded. "Sometimes you have to face the consequences of your failure head on. Regardless of what becomes of it, you will learn from it."

"What if I can't? What if the punishment is too severe?" Ash asked. He shifted uncomfortably, his father matched his eyes and gazed cautiously.

"When you make your bed, you lay in it. When you make a mistake, you hold yourself accountable and accept the consequences. You learn from your mistake, you find the solution." He said calmly. He chuckled quietly. "So what did you do?"

Reality snapped back into focus. Hours had passed, he wandered the street alone. The sun was already starting to lower. Time had slipped between his fingers and the hour was growing late. This would be his only chance. He kept Silver Faust hidden in his coat, in a special holster. It was folded into it's revolver mode. He heard a voice whisper in his ear.

"Take the next right, three blocks down. That's where you will find her." The voice whispered. He turned his head just in time to see a hooded shape ducking down an alleyway.

Three blocks to the right, standing alone in the middle of the street, was Weiss Schnee. She was pacing back and forth, letting out frustrated sighs. It was like a passive aggressive temper tantrum. He approached cautiously. His heart was pounding in his throat, sweat dripped from his forehead. This was it. She turned in surprise.

"You dolt!" She shouted, he forgot how unpleasant she was. "You don't just sneak up on people like that!"

"I'm sorry." Ash muttered. His voice was caught in his throat. He felt his eyes water. He wasn't ready for this, he didn't want to do this. He tried to psyche himself up. He tried to convince himself he could. His heart sank deeper.

"Listen, it's okay. I didn't really mean to snap." She said. It was a different tone than he was used to. She was kind of nice. That just made this all a lot worse.

"I'm so sorry." Ash said. She looked a little confused.

He drew Silver Faust from it's holster. He flicked it out, it extended into a long saber. He swung it into an attack position. She blinked. He waited for her to realize what was happening. It didn't take long. She didn't even seem surprised, the defeated look on her face gave him the impression that she was expecting it. Like it had happened before. No panic, no fear, just a fatigued shrug. She drew her blade.

He swung, she blocked. The blades clashed together. She pushed him back and, with a quick twirl, managed to distance herself and set herself into a ready position. She carefully placed a single foot forward, tilting her head up. He swung his blade and she raised hers. He lunged. The blades collided once again. Perfect blocks repelled him. He needed to try something else. He spun around, swinging the blade in wild, random movements. Some high, some low, she repeatedly blocked. Her blade swung to try to compensate, he swung fiercely. A downward strike, she held her blade out, he forced his weight down on her. If there was one thing he could say with certainty, it was that he was heavier than her.

She flipped out of the way, Ash crashed down towards the ground. He flipped over just in time for a barrage of ice to narrowly miss his face. He jumped back to his feet, another blast of ice flew his way. Glyphs were appearing all around him, blasts sent him staggering. He flipped Silver Faust into it's gun mode and opened fire. She dodged with a series of backflips. He flicked it back and lunged at her, he found himself flipping into the air. She sent him crashing down. He hopped back to his feet and lunged. His sword missed her by inches. She spun around with the grace of a ballerina, blade aimed at his throat. He flipped out of the way and raised his blade. He lunged once more.

She grappled his blade out of his hand, a simple flick of the wrist and Silver Faust was soaring. With a quick twirl and flourish she shifted position. He felt himself wince, he wasn't sure what had happened but his side felt as if it had caught fire. Searing pain was flooding his nerves, he lowered his gaze. Her sword was sticking into his torso. Blood was dripping down his leg. He looked back at her, panic in his eyes. She met his, the same look mirrored back at him. He grabbed her blade and with his other hand he swung. A single blow straight to her jaw, she dropped like a rock. He staggered back and carefully pulled the blade out. It wasn't too deep, yet it was enough to send his entire body into a state of panic. He tried to keep pressure with one hand, reaching for Silver Faust with the other. He flicked Silver Faust into it's gun mode.

He looked down again. He looked at the blood dripping down his side. He turned his head to Silver Faust, the glow of the moon was reflecting off of it. He turned his head back to Weiss, she was staring up at him. Her face was stern but her eyes were pleading. He coughed hoarsely.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, he couldn't tell if she was angry or scared.

"I have to do this." The words left Ash's mouth, he felt so numb that he could have sworn they came from someone else. He looked back at his weapon, then to the blood, the back to her.

"Why?" She asked. He wished he could be anywhere but here. Make your bed and lay in it. He felt sick. His gaze went back and forth once more.

He was back in his father's study. His father was smiling down at him. Nostalgia alone hurt more than his stab wound.

"So what did you do?" He asked.

"I screwed up. I broke it." Ash said, pulling out shards of what was once his father's vase. However when he looked down he saw a blood-soaked hand and a gun.

Reality was screaming. Weiss was looking up at him and he was breathing heavier with each breath. He felt his eyes welling up. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He didn't want to kill anyone, if he didn't he'd be the one to suffer. He made this, this was his problem. He worked for them, he couldn't let his family name die out, his company dissolved, his family bankrupt. He looked back and forth. He didn't know what to do.

"You don't need to do this." She said, calmer than she usually was.

"I do." Ash replied. He raised the gun, he felt a tear dripping down his face. His mind raced back and forth. At this moment he realized something. He could see it in her eyes. The pain, the misery, she looked tired. He realized that he recognized something in her eyes. It was like looking into a mirror. The White Fang have attacked and killed members of her family, her friends, they destroy her family's property and forced her father to retaliate. They were more alike than he ever thought possible. He closed his eyes squeezed the trigger. "I am so sorry. You really don't deserve this."

"Hey buddy, think fast!" The voice came from his right, he released his finger from the trigger and turned. He turned just in time to see a gauntlet flying towards his face. A golden gauntlet.

There was a deafening crunch and he was soaring in the air. He felt pain coursing through his skull. It is amazing how much can happen in an instant. The pain surged through his body. There was a brief moment of clarity. He had made a mistake. He never should have left that prison. He should have stayed. Then his family would be free. He tempted fate by trying for a future. He didn't deserve one. Not with his mistakes. His mind raced back to his father's voice. Learn from your mistakes, find the solution. Admit your failings and own up to your mistake. That was a tall order all things considered. He hit the ground with a deafening crunch and flipped over onto his back. His vision was blurry, he could faintly make out voices.

"You okay Weiss?" The voice asked cheerfully.

"I'm fine!" Weiss spat out. There was a brief pause. Her tone changed considerably. "Thank you."

"What was all that about?" The voice asked.

"I don't know..." She said quietly. There was a brief pause. "Uh Yang?"

"Yes?" Yang asked back.

"He's getting back up." Weiss replied. Ash was pulling himself to his feet. He wasn't sure if it was just the concussion talking but his head was raging. His face had turned red. He was angry. Angry with himself. Angry with the white fang. Angry with Weiss and her friend. Angry with Beacon, with Glynda, with Cardin. His life was over, they won. It felt like the world was against him and, big surprise, the world won. It was definitely the concussion talking.

"Oh come on!" Yang shouted. She walked right up to Ash. He felt searing pain wash across his face and he was back on the ground. "Stay down!"

"Yang, he's getting back up again." Weiss said. He could hear Yang groan as he tried again to climb to his feet. There was a loud smack and he was back on the ground.

"We get it, your tough!" Yang shouted. He tried again. There was another loud smack and his head hit the pavement hard. "Do yourself a favor and just stay down."

Ash felt his hand wrapping around something. Silver Faust. He coughed and aimed it at her feet. He squeezed the trigger. There was a loud blast and he was flipping into the air. he crashed into the side of a brick building. He dropped to the ground. His body was searing in pain. He staggered back to his feet. Yang, a girl with vibrant blonde hair, was approaching him, her gauntlets raised. She lunged, he sidestepped. He flicked Silver Faust into it's blade form and swung it, she blocked with her gauntlet and punched him square in the chest. He staggered back. A sword came from behind, he barely blocked it only to receive a quick punch in the gut and a kick to the face. He deflected another strike from Weiss's blade and quickly spun around. Yang's fist was flying straight for him, he tossed some sand in her eyes and hopped out of the way. She flew right past him.

"Why are you doing this?" Weiss asked. She raised her blade. Blood dripped from it's point.

"Don't you know who I am?" Ash asked. She shook her head. He felt angrier. He stumbled out of the way of Yang's assault and fired several shots in her direction, she dove into an alley.

"You're a student at Beacon, we've met before." She answered with a shrug.

"My name, is Ashton Gray, son of Thomas, heir to the Gray Dust Company!" Ash shouted. She shrugged.

"Am I supposed to know that?" Weiss asked. "I'd never heard of it."

"Your father all but destroyed it!" Ash shouted. He staggered towards her and swung his blade down. She blocked it, he proceeded to swing his sword repeatedly down at her like a club. "Your father destroyed my family, he took everything from us. He took everything from me."

"So?" She asked. He blinked. He wasn't sure what made him more angry. That she was oblivious to his suffering or that she didn't seem to care. "I'm not my father. I know nothing about your family or it's suffering. Why are we fighting?"

"Because, they'll kill me if I don't! They might kill my family if I don't!" Ash shouted. She stepped back carefully. He felt tears dripping down his face. "I have to do this!"

"Who is going to kill your family?" She asked. She lowered her guard, he lunged. She sidestepped and smacked him in the back. He staggered about in the street like a drunk.

"Who else?" He asked. He staggered towards her again. "The White Fang!"

"The White Fang?" She asked. She took a moment to pause. "If they threaten your family then they are your enemy. They are my enemies too."

"So?" Ash asked. He swung again, she flipped out of the way. He collapsed in the street.

"Last time I checked, the enemy of my enemy is my friend." She replied. He pulled himself to his feet and staggered around.

"Friends?" He asked, he raised his blade again.

"Well not as far as that but at least not trying to kill each other." She said with a shrug.

"I..." He started mouthing the rest of his sentence but wasn't quite sure what he was even trying to say. He swayed back and forth on the spot. She raised her hand out.

"Here, let's end this right now. We'll shake on it." She said holding her hand outstretched. He stared at it. Weiss Schnee, offering a truce. He shook his head and closed his eyes. Everything was a blur, he tried to think. He reached out his hand.

The fist collided with his head, he stumbled over and rolled out of the way. Weiss was shouting at her friend but he couldn't make out the words. The world was ringing. He flipped onto his feet, almost falling over and swung his blade blindly. There was a shriek and he saw strands of golden hair falling to the ground.

"YOU MONSTER!" The Yang shrieked, he looked up and found Yang's gauntlet flying towards his face, behind it her hair a flaming mane.

He blocked her first hit, her second clipped his shoulder. Another hit him right in the gut, then another in the leg. There was a loud crack as she hit him square in the jaw. It felt like it almost unhinged. His legs buckled. He wasn't sure how many times he was hit afterwards, or even where he was hit. It was like a constant surge of pain, an endless barrage of strikes. He was soaring through the air and with another painful crunch he slammed into the side of a building. He hit the ground hard. He could barely hear, let alone see.

"Yang!" Weiss shouted. "What is wrong with you?"

"Did you see what he did to my hair!" Yang shouted back. Weiss let out a sigh.

"I was talking him down. He cuts a strand of your hair and that gives you the right to attack him?" Weiss asked. Yang sounded like she was trying to talk but was quickly interrupted. "Next time maybe you should learn some tact."

"Tact?" She asked. "Well excuse me princess! I was only trying to save your life!"

"My life didn't need saving..." Weiss was interrupted by a loud explosion. It sounded like it was coming from the harbor.

"We have to go!" Yang shouted, Weiss stamped her feet. "Come on. It could be Ruby or Blake!"

"We can't just leave him bloody in the street." Weiss pointed out, Yang hung her head.

"Yeah you're right." She said quietly. She turned around a knelt down. "Hey anger issues. You able to find your way back to Beacon? Is all this done?"

"Yeah." Ash groaned. His body felt like it was on fire. "I'm done."

"Good! As long as you're done with your little fit, we'll forget this ever happened." Yang said. She patted him on the shoulder firmly. His body felt numb. He was done, the White Fang will make sure of that. "Don't try this again or we won't be so gentle. Next time we meet you better hope I'm in a better mood."

They ran off, Ash could faintly see them disappear into the darkness. He couldn't move. His vision blurred and he felt himself falling asleep. He lost. It was over.

He awoke to the sounds of sirens. He staggered to his feet, wobbling more than a little. It was as if every bone in his body had broken and then mended. The pain was pretty hard to bear. He needed a drink. He limped down the street, his head pounding and his breathing heavier and heavier. He staggered into a dusty bar. It was late enough the entire establishment was practically abandoned. The vacant chairs were stacked neatly on the tables, only one other person sat at the counter. He slumped into a chair next to him and hailed the barkeep.

"Well well, you look like you've been through a ringer!" The man next to him exclaimed excitedly. The man wore a fine white suit and a black bowler cap. His hair was a fiery orange. He looked horribly familiar, he just couldn't place him.

"In a manner of speaking." Ash replied, the barkeep placed a glass in front of him. He downed it quickly. His throat burned, it numbed the pain everywhere else.

"So, what happened?" The man asked. Ash quietly chuckled.

"Lady trouble." Ash replied. The man nodded slightly.

"Had a little of that myself." The man said. "It seems to be going around."

"Ashton." Ash introduced himself, sticking his hand out. "Ashton Gray."

"Roman." The man replied, a long smile across his face. "Roman Torchwick."

"Pleasure to meet you." Ash said with a smile, raising his glass. Roman met it with his.

"The pleasure is all mine." Roman's smile grew wider. "Perhaps this is the start to a very fruitful friendship."

"Words right out of my mouth." Ash smiled back.

The White Fang would be pretty pissed at him, on top of that he imagines he's made a few enemies back at Beacon. To hell with it, he thought. He downed his glass. They'd have to form a line. He thought about what Weiss offered, an alliance of sorts. They didn't have to be enemies. Then again that's right before her crazy friend attacked him over her hair. He figured that sort of 'friendship' wouldn't last long. Roman raised his glass.

"To lady trouble, may we find mutual solutions." He said, there was something to his smile. Ash met his glass.

"To lady trouble." Ash nodded.

-End of Volume 1-


End file.
